Ultimate Crossover
by Friendlysociopath
Summary: As the barriers between dimensions fall and the walking embodiment of entropy seeks to end all of Creation, The Doctor realizes his greatest foe will require the greatest of allies. I only own one character, everyone else is copyright property of their respective owners. Efforts were taken to portray every character as they should be portrayed except for the sake of the plot.
1. Episode 1 The Almighty

_Episode 1 "The Almighty"_

_ "The universe is big, it's vast and complicated, and ridiculous."_ \- The 11th Doctor

**Tony Stark**

High atop his tower, Tony Stark contemplated perhaps the most important decision he had ever made in his life. Jarvis was currently performing at 99% of his maximum capacity, but Tony had never been the kind of guy to not go that extra distance. He'd checked the hardware and it was all top of the line or better, exactly as planned, meaning the only thing he could improve was software.

"Jarvis, would you like me to update your operating system now or later?" Tony asked his faithful robotic butler.

"I would not be unappreciative. However, even for an AI of my caliber, it will take some time to update fully. Are you sure you wish to update me now? You'll temporarily be without my assistance. I calculate an 11% chance you'll be attacked while I am inactive."

Tony decided to ignore that last remark, Jarvis was needlessly pessimistic when it came to his calculations through unerring logic. Villains and world-shattering plots couldn't spring up every day. He brought up his interface of Jarvis' system and produced a small CD that he tossed into a giant target sign. Upon hitting it directly in the center a loud "He shoots- he scores!" was sounded throughout Tony's workplace. A series of small yellow holographic lights appeared, messages Jarvis had likely recorded seconds before starting his update. Tony played the first of the three sound files.

Jarvis' voice emerged from speakers situated everywhere in Tony's Tower. "I took the liberty of starting with the Mark VII armor sir, it should be ready to go within five minutes." The message was accompanied by a small timer that started ticking down. Tony nodded, Jarvis was efficient, as always. He queued up the next message.

"Mrs. Potts requests you come down for dinner to discuss plans for the wedding, again." Tony leaned back in his chair and scratched his head. _Again? We just discussed that a week ago! Or was it a day ago? Ah well, better not keep her waiting._ Tony stood up out of his desk chair before swiping the third message, which had turned red and was flashing with an "urgent" sign floating around it.

"Lastly sir, there appears to be a women floating outside your workplace on a guitar. She is dressed in a bunny suit. I am noticing high levels of aggression from her and would advise defensive actions immediately." _What the hell?_

BOOM. Tony stumbled as a blast opened a small portion of his office to the Manhattan skyline. More explosions were striking his tower in a rapid succession, widening the hole until the top three floors were exposed to the elements. The universe had a cruel sense of irony it seemed. The woman rode into his office on her guitar in a manner similar to a surfboard before dismounting. Sure enough, she was dressed in a bunny costume. _Well, she's not the first female who has anger issues with me. I can handle this, and if I can't, the Mark VII suit will be ready to go in a few more minutes. _

Tony raised his hands in a placating gesture, "Alright miss bunny person, I don't know what I did to wrong you- but you're destroying my house and my place of business and probably scaring the crap out of my fiancee; that's not allowed." He pointed at the remains of what was formerly a wall. "So you can just hop back on your guitar and call my receptionist to set up a meeting and I will happily talk to you about what's bad between us. Could I have your name so I can be sure I don't skip it?" The woman just smiled at him and reclined against a Vespa scooter that had followed her into the building like an obedient puppy.

"I've got no problem with you dude. You can call me Haruko." A bright flash of light blinded Tony momentarily before he could see again. Haruko had changed her clothes, now appearing in an orange jacket, dark tights, boots, and a helmet complete with goggles. "There, fan-service time is over, you're Tony Stark right?" She stepped forward and hefted her guitar as if it were a baseball bat. "I've got a sweet reward for dealing with you and your friends, destroying everything else really doesn't concern me so I wouldn't move if I were you." Tony had a sinking feeling that guitar was going to hurt a lot more than it should. He sprinted towards the station for his suit. By his count he only had two minutes left until Jarvis said his suit would be fully operational again. _But will she let me reach the station in time?_

Tony glanced over his shoulder as he ran, he slowed down when he saw Haruko had barely moved from where she had stepped forward to make her threat. He reached the station but didn't bring out his suit yet as she was making no motion to pursue him. Tony shot her a trademarked Stark grin. "Most women who want to catch me chase a bit harder than you do."

Haruko just smiled back, "The job pays on completion dude, I don't have to be the one to do it." It took Tony less than half a second to realize what that meant and to jump onto his station to equip his suit. Not a moment too soon as a rocket slammed into his armored side, knocking him down but otherwise leaving him unharmed. He looked up to see a helmeted figure walk up to him, his helmet completely obscured his face but for a small slit around the eye region, he was also carrying a weapon Tony was unfamiliar with- which was saying something. The figure's voice emerged through a some sort of voice box.

"Looks like he's all talk, bounty hunting isn't as hard as it used to be, wanna finish him Haruko? " Haruko sauntered up to Tony and readied her guitar.

"No problem Boba-kun, let's see if he can fly." she casually whacked him with the guitar. The impact was far more than he had expected, hurtling him through one of his intact walls and crashing into a building across the street. He fell in free-fall, barely conscious, glancing off the surface of the building as he careened out of control and without power.

Back up at Tony's office, Haruko turned as a small beep sounded from behind her and a clock ran down to 0:00. "What's that for?"

Meanwhile hurtling towards ground-level at terminal velocity, Tony's suit came back online and he activated the thrusters mere feet above the pavement, startling nearby pedestrians. _Alright, now I'm pissed._

Rocketing up at top speed, he reached the highest floor of his tower to find- nothing? He'd noticed Pepper being evacuated as he was climbing so he had one less worry to deal with. His scanners immediately warned him of a threat behind him, he jetted to his right, narrowly avoiding the laser blast as it raced past him and vaporized an entire floor of a nearby apartment building. As he turned around he quickly noticed two things, this Boba fellow could fly, and he had more than one weapon. A quick scan of the nearby area didn't reveal where Haruko was, but he had more immediate concerns, like showing this amateur who the real Iron Man was. He jetted towards the bounty hunter, firing energy blasts from his repulsors. Boba ascended to dodge the blasts, returning fire with a different weapon, less of a rifle and more like a regular pistol. Tony arced his way underneath him, dodging the plasma shots. It appeared that while some of his weaponry had more firepower, his jetpack did not offer nearly the degree of maneuverability that Tony's suit granted him. Continuing his arc, Tony looped above Boba and sent several repulsor blasts straight at him. As expected, Boba couldn't dodge to the side as easily and several shots landed. While the attacks had connected, his armor had appeared to deflect the energy but not the force of the blow. _Interesting._ Tony thought to himself. He pulled back on his momentum to ascend quickly before diving at the bounty hunter at maximum speed. _This might hurt._

* * *

**Boba Fett**

Boba was still reeling from the energy blasts when he noticed the sun that was shining directly on him moments before was now eclipsed. He had but a second to prepare himself before 400 pounds hammered him downwards. He felt himself grappled by Tony as they accelerated towards the ground at full speed. _Guess he isn't all talk after all._

* * *

**Tony**

Tony kept Boba in a headlock all the way down, he'd underestimated people enough times to know it would bite him if he held back. He had Pepper in his life now, more so than ever before, and these two had almost hurt her. Civilians that had previously seen Iron Man just avoid become a permanent addition to the road moments before had barely begun to leave the scene before he rocketed back again, this time pile-driving a strange man into the street hard enough to shatter the asphalt and set off car alarms. Tony stood up and glared at the man through his visor. He wasn't moving very much, if he wasn't dead he was likely injured badly. _Now, where's the other one?_ Tony heard gasps and slowly turned to see Haruko riding her scooter in the air, looking like she didn't have a care in the world.

"Awww, Fett-senpai, I thought you were a big bad bounty hunter?" she mocked the still Boba Fett. Tony was in no mood for games and sent a signal through his suit to fire small caliber gunfire in her direction. He'd expected her to dodge them- but he didn't think she'd simply blur through them faster than he could react, slamming her guitar into his face. His vision blacked out for a moment as he was hurled down the street, plowing a long crater in the road. He noticed Fett getting back up from the hole Tony had recently put him in, although he was moving very slowly. _Damn it._ Tony climbed to his feet in more or less the same manner, Haruko hit very hard. Tony then heard a sound that brought reassurance, the sound of people screaming "Spiderman!" _About time someone else showed up._ Tony turned to greet his ally but noticed Spiderman was swinging in far too low, almost like he was going to- WHAM!

Spiderman kicked Tony, in the face, and not holding back very much. Tony flew back down the street, landing before Haruko and Fett. A sustained beating like this was beginning to toll on him, his suit was taking extreme amounts of damage- it wouldn't protect him forever. Spiderman walked over to Tony and grabbed him by the chest and lifting him into the air. Tony had to ask him, "Why Spiderman? Why are you doing this?" Spiderman drew him close to his masked face to reply, "Run away Tony, I tried stopping myself but I can't!" He then threw Tony into the air. He fell slowly, noticing that Haruko was winding up for another swing and Boba was taking aim with his big gun. _It can't end like this!_

* * *

**Boba**

A flare burst into being above Iron Man as everyone followed his flight, blinding the civilians and Haruko. Boba's sensors washed out the excessive light. He turned to follow the trail of the flare to see a blur of green rush him and strike him several times in rapid succession, in the face, in the knee, and in the elbow. By the time Fett recovered from the barrage of blows and everyone had regained their sight, Iron Man was gone. All they heard was a sort of wheezing, groaning noise as they wondered where Iron Man had vanished to. Fett walked up to Spiderman and pointed his laser gun straight into the webslinger's face.

"You're supposed to be on our side freak." Fett growled through his voice box. Spiderman did not look away from the death pointed at his face. " You were supposed to help us take Stark down, not deliver him to his allies. If you're not going to do as you're told, perhaps our employer is going to have to do a bit better in training you." He holstered his pistol and turned to face the only man brave enough to walk into the middle of the road. From the beginning there was something off about him, none of the civilians could describe it- it was the way he walked, the way he moved, he seemed to entirely belong and at the same time completely alien. The way he looked from side to side as though each new thing was new to him but also as if he'd seen the same thing time and time again before was unnerving people, causing them to start backing away from him. He wore a simple robe of white, it hid his feet from view but hadn't managed to gather a spec of dirt from trailing on the ground. His hair was silver and hung to his shoulders, rippling in a breeze that wasn't there.

Fett strode forward to meet him. "The rest of them, they'll be coming, what are you going to do about them?" The man in white turned to look at Fett; even through his armor Fett had the sensation that the man not only saw through the armor, he saw through his soul, through his very being- through his destiny. The destiny that the man had so casually dismissed only hours before as Fett lay almost dead in the sarlacc pit. The man grinned at Fett, as he did so a wave of white energy emerged from him and began racing away in all directions, causing the people to run and scream. **"The same thing I did to the Justice League, my dear bounty hunter, I'm going to kill them."**

* * *

**Tony**

Tony awoke to a bizarre sound and the scent of English tea. Before him stood another man in armor and another man in a patched coat with a fez on his head. _And here I thought I was the only one. _The man with the fez turned and noticed him waking up, Tony's visor had withdrawn into his suit. The man took out a small tool and waved it over Tony, it emitted a green light and made a warbling noise. As he did this Tony took in his surroundings, he was lying against a beam in a bizarre room, circular in nature, with a large console in the middle divided into six sections. A large machine in the center was pumping up and down slowly in time with the wheezing sound that was emanating from it.

The man spoke, drawing Tony's attention to him and his ridiculous outfit. _Who wears bow-ties?_ "Greetings Tony," the man crouched to look Stark in the eyes, "I'm glad you're awake and alive, at the same time too no less- we're here to help you." He gestured over his shoulder at the seven foot tall green man. "That's John 117, also known as Master Chief. I'm the Doctor."

Tony was still processing his previous fight and must have missed the rest of the sentence. "I'm sorry, Doctor Who?"


	2. Episode 2 The Reclaimer

_Episode 2 "The Reclaimer"_

_"Our duty as soldiers is to protect humanity... whatever the cost."_ \- The Master Chief

**Master Chief**

John 117 had been in a lot of unusual situations, probably more than any other UNSC soldier, but nothing he had faced before had prepared him for taking any sort of extended trip with The Doctor. It was as if the man was on an illegal stimulant, or all of them. He was talking to Tony Stark in a very enthusiastic manner, it was very jarring from the standard drawl of orders John was used to. Stark was still lying against the bulkhead of the ship, probably overwhelmed by the barrage he was being exposed to.

"...and that's why it's bigger than the inside than the outside. Do you follow me?" The Doctor grinned at Tony, he did that a lot. The Doctor loved to talk, and smile, and talk. Tony stood up in his armor, which John took a moment to study with a soldier's eye. No camoflague, eye-catching colors, plenty of firepower, more maneuverable but less durable than John's Spartan armor- John also hadn't noticed any shield when he had rescued Tony from the enemy ambush. _If he becomes a threat, I'd probably have to fight him hand-to-hand, although my weapons appear to be far better at penetration than the weapons on his world..._

"Johnny boy! Master Chief!" John snapped to attention, The Doctor might not hold UNSC rank but John knew between the three of them who was more fit to command, especially if even half of what he said was true. The Doctor beckoned him over to a screen and pointed at it. On it a man in a white robe was walking around the interior of the TARDIS, something was off about him- though John couldn't put his finger on why. The Doctor continued, "I know you were probably occupied with disarming Fett and grabbing Tony, but did you notice this man anywhere near the battle?"

John shook his head, "No sir."

The Doctor pointed directly at John, waving his finger back and forth in amusment. "I've told you before Chief, no 'sir'. I'm the 'Doctor' or nothing- or the pope, depends on who you ask and how I answer." _He keeps referencing events I have no way of knowing about. _Tony spoke to John for the first time since he had regained consciousness. "Master Chief is it? I'm unfamiliar with that rank, and the UNSC, what is that? Another secret agency? I've got enough acronyms chasing after me, CIA, FBI, NSA, what's your story?"

John stood in an at-ease posture, "Master Chief Petty Officer John 117 of the Spartan program. I'm a soldier of the United Nations Space Command." Requested information given, John continued to stand in at-ease. A brief silence followed before Tony turned to The Doctor.

"Alright, this guy in white- who is he and what does he want?" The Doctor made a sour face before replying.

"Alright, you're a smart man Tony, you know about entropy and how everything decays over time?" After a nod from Tony, The Doctor continued, "Well, between different realities there are barriers, entropy is acting on those too, it's reached a point where universes are starting to lapse into one another. As far as I can tell," The Doctor turned to point at the screen and the man in white, "he is entropy itself in a physical form. I won't call him a God, he isn't a God, but he's very, very powerful and," The Doctor turned to look directly at Tony as his voice turned grave, "he has apparently decided to use your world as the start of his plan- and I... don't know what his plan is, yet." Everyone looked to the screen as a knocking sound emerged from it. The man in white was staring straight at them. His voice emerged from the screen, the words themselves felt like they squirmed over you, scurring over your body like insects searching for a crack to crawl into.

** "Hello Doctor, John, Tony, it seems The Doctor has already started gathering new friends to deal with me." **The man didn't smile as he spoke and his voice was without emotion, but the conviction that he was amused was inserting itself into their minds. **"Do as you wish Time Lord, I told you before and I will tell you again, you playing this game will not change the outcome. I know you Doctor, you talk a mean fight but the thing you've always been best at was running, so go on Doctor, run." **With that last word the screen went black and the TARDIS shuddered, knocking all of them off their feet. Alarms began firing off, one after another and a noise began filling the ship, sounding for all the world like train breaks going off, but steadily growing louder. The Doctor was the first to his feet, surprising John as he was close behind.

"Ohhhhhh that's not good." The Doctor ran to the center console and started pressing buttons and pullling levers. The ship shook again, John briefly saw the inside of the TARDIS reflect on itself, left became right and right became left, before it returned to normal. The Doctor was turning pale. "Nope! Not good! That's bad, very bad!" Tony climbed to his feet and ran to the controls.  
"Doctor, what's happening?" Tony was flexing his hands, clearly liking not being able to help no more than John himself did. The Doctor was a maniac, attempting to use both arms and even one of his legs to manipulate the controls.

"He's making us run- he's creating a Logic Barrier- we have to get free before we're trapped here!" Sparks fired off the buttons as the screeching noise reached a louder volume, a regular human would've begun to bleed from the ears by now. Tony re-engaged his helmet to offset the damage to his ears. The Doctor appeared to not notice the noise as he struggled to do whatever he was doing. "We won't be able to come back at whatever time or place we want, we'll be stuck going to his place and his time, if we can even come back at all!" Another shudder shook the ship, causing John's vision to distort into only darkness besides the lights that were The Doctor and Tony Stark. The Doctor continued his shouting to be heard, "Okay- I need your help, both of you- follow my instructions exactly! Tony, turn the blue lever 90 degrees to your right, Chief, press the 2nd row of buttons from the right to the left!" Tony and John hurried to obey the commands. They worked tirelessly, for what seemed like hours, the TARDIS shuddered twice more in that time, once forcing Chief to see everything as though it were drawn by a five year old, another time allowing him to see everything as though he had X-Ray vision. He was simultaneously disturbed and interested to see that The Doctor did indeed have two hearts. Tony appeared to have some augmentation to his own body as well, a large chunk of metal was near his heart, as well as whatever battery he had in his chest. Doubtless they could see John's own body through his armor in these instances, though The Doctor was likely not paying attention as he was in effect running three separate pairs of arms on one console. Finally, the shrieking noise lowered in volume before finally falling completely silent. The ship ceased to quake and they all took a step back, giving a breath of relief. The Doctor wiped his hand across his forehead, wiping away the sweat that had accumulated there, the ship's temperature had both plummeted and skyrocketed several times. Tony and John were protected by their armor, The Doctor meanwhile was wiping ice crystals and rivers of sweat off his head simultaneously. He looked at John and Tony and grinned, though he was breathing heavily.

"Alright, we did it!" He clapped his hands and pointed at the both of them. "We beat his Logic Barrier! I have no clue how we're going to do it again but we're alive and currently outside of his influence, three cheers for us yeah? Hip hip-". Tony strode forward, slashing his arm across his chest to emphasize his words.

"Cheer later, what do you mean we're outside his influence? I have to go back! Pepper's still there!" The Doctor lowered his arms from his aborted cheer, the enthusiasm fading from his face. He didn't speak for a moment, looking down at his feet before meeting Tony's eyes.

"Tony, I promise you, we will go back- but we can't now. Even if I wanted to, I can't pass through that Logic Barrier, neither can you. Go on, tell me how you'd like to go back." Tony furrowed his brow, looking perplexed. He shook his head and blinked a couple of times, even resorting to striking himself in the forehead with the heel of his hand. The Doctor spoke, "See? You can't even devise a way back, that's how the Logic Barrier works- we can't go back because it won't let us conceive a way to go back. And even if we did, he's assembling an army- you've met Haruko and Boba Fett, they aren't from your world. We must do the same." _Finally, a plan of action_. John had been silent thourgh this exchange, but he now felt he understood the situation.

"So Doctor, what you're saying is you intend to do as the man in white suggested? Go to other worlds and build an army? You told me you were a pacifist, are you going to lead them? Are you going to fight?" The Doctor replied with a shake of his head.

"No, I can't fight, not the way you or Tony can. I can get us where we're going and I can talk and plot with the best of them, but when it comes to leading the troops it will not be me giving the orders John, it will be you." The Doctor turned to Tony, who had quitely sank to the floor as the talk progressed. "Tony," Stark looked up from the floor to stare The Doctor in his eyes, "I give you my word, we will return and we will stop him." The Doctor held out his hand to Tony, palm up, "Tony Stark, Ironman, will you help us save Creation?" Tony stayed silent for a moment before taking the proffered hand, though The Doctor stumbled a bit trying to lift him to his feet. They turned to look at John, hands still clasped in the middle. _Was there ever any doubt?_ John 117 reached forward and placed his hand on the other two hands before him. He stared at the both of them through his visor.

"Petty Officer Master Chief, reporting for duty. I'll stay and fight with you, no matter the cost." The Doctor smiled as they all drew their hands back to themselves.

"Since we're all on board, we didn't fly away at random." The Doctor touched a finger to his nose. "The Logic Barrier would've thrown us to the last place the man in white visited before heading to Tony's Earth. Let's see what he was looking for shall we?" The Doctor strode towards the doors of his TARDIS, John and Tony following behind. John mentally ran through his equipment, _combat knife, two M6H pistols with a spare magazine each, and one fully loaded battle rifle. I'm probably going to need replacement weapons before this is over._ The trio emerged from the TARDIS doors into an alley of a decrepit city, much of the area was covered in grafiti and the nearby buildings were in disrepair.

"I thought the worlds would be a bit more different. I've seen places like this in my world." Stark commented as he looked around, John heard a metallic whirring, probably Tony scanning the area for threats. John's own motion detector was showing no signs on movement, though he didn't relax his guard. The Doctor himself was walking around, waving something he called a 'sonic screwdriver' over the buildings. He checked the device as he replied to Tony.

"Most won't be incredibly different, we need champions who are capable of fighting in your world. It won't do us any good to find people that are too alien and unable to adapt to your type of combat." The Doctor lowered his screwdriver as he picked up a small doll that he had found lying against a box, "It looks like this world has its own share of problems. Hopefully there's something we can find here, some sort of clue where to go next." He respectfully placed the doll back where he had found it. John stepped closer to inspect the doll, it was a little girl in a small pink dress. A trick of the light made it look like she winked at John.

Suddenly red blips appeared on John's motion tracker. "Contact, enemies coming from both ends of the alley." John snapped this info off to Tony and The Doctor. Tony nodded in reply before heading to stand on one side of the TARDIS, which still looked like a police box. The Doctor laid a restraining hand on John's shoulder.

"Listen to me, you can't just shoot anything that comes around the corner. We need information and allies, not necessarily in that order. Let me make sure they're bad before you do the soldier thing." Groans were coming from around the corner but John lowered his battle rifle, accepting The Doctor's command. Tony wasn't voicing any dissent but John noticed his repulsors were still fired up, ready to go at a moment's notice. Several emaciated figures walked around the corner, their eyes shining red beneath their black cowls as they groaned and screamed. They also had quite large scythes, the lead one slashed at The Doctor as soon as it was in reach. The Doctor ducked beneath the blow, scanning it and checking the readings as he retreated. "Nope, they're demons, go ahead- do the soldier thing!"

John required no further warning, unloading his battle rifle into the enemy slowly advancing down the alley. While he had been christened as a "Demon" by Covenant forces, facing real demons in battle was proving less than a challenge. Firing triple round bursts into their skulls was dropping them fairly easily, the bodies dissapated into sand that faded from sight after they died. Judging by the explosions and moans coming from behind him, Tony was also holding the enemy off fairly easily on his end.

A burst of sand next to John gave warning for him to duck under a scythe swing as a demon teleported next to him. His battle rifle began clicking as it ran out of ammo, forcing John to bludgeon the demon to death with it. He drew both pistols and pointed them at the demons, gunfire sounded down the alley- though John hadn't yet pulled the triggers.

A man in a red coat leapt overhead, spinning with a pistol in one hand and a sword in the other. In a whirlwind of shooting and slashing he destroyed the rest of the demons entering the alley.

John eyed this new arrival's pistols with a little envy, he hadn't seen the red coated man reload them once despite firing over a hundred rounds. The Doctor approached the man quickly, but raised his hands and stepped back when the red coated man aimed a pistol directly at The Doctor. John instantly moved between the two, his own pistols pointed directly at the new unidentified character. John revised his estimate of the red coated fellow's age, he looked younger, late teens, maybe early twenties; and he was smiling too. _Great, another person who smiles too much._ The new guy brushed his silver hair out of his eyes with his free hand before talking.

"Alright, who the hell are you guys and what are you doing in my city? I've been killing this new wave of demons for a week straight, then you guys show up and they stop after a few minutes? I don't buy it. I want some answers." John simply held his pistols steady on his target, it was The Doctor's job to talk, his was to shoot.

"I'm The Doctor," it appeared he was introducing himself, John wondered whether he took a perverse pleasure in not telling people his actual name or if that was just how things worked in his world. "that man in the red and gold armor is Tony Stark, also known as Ironman and the man in green who is pointing his pistols at you is John 117, also known as Master Chief. Speaking of which, Chief, please lower the guns." John obeyed the command, lowering his weapons. The Doctor continued his explanation, "In Tony's world, the personification of entropy has appeared and he is plotting something- something bad, something wrong." The Doctor took out a picture of the man in white and showed it to the new man, "Have you seen him? Or anyone else you're not familiar with? We escaped Tony's world and the backlash brought us here, he's been to your world, either he took something from your world or left something-" He was interupted by the youngster as he holstered his own pistol.

"The name's Dante, I'm a demon hunter. I didn't see your man in white but I saw another guy, he had a spider pattern on his blue and red spandex costume. That's a new one for me, so I tried to follow- but I lost him. Right after that the demons started showing up." The Doctor stared intently at Dante and started waving his screwdriver over him without a word, Dante seemed slightly taken aback. "Uh hey, Doctor, what exactly are you doing?" The screwdriver suddenly began beeping when pointed at Dante's jacket pocket. Dante appeared confused and reached into it, bringing a small device that John was not familiar with. The Doctor was holding his breath as he reached a hand out to Dante.

"Dante, that man was called Spiderman, bit of a redundant name I know but he's on our side, or at least he was. I think he's being mind-controlled by the enemy. But I think he slipped that into your pocket while the man in white was here, can I see that?" Dante handed it over without a word, apparently accepting The Doctor was going at his own pace. The Doctor openened a small clasp, letting him open the device. It appeared to be a small handheld device complete with a screen and a holographic keyboard. The Doctor gasped in surprise. "It's an information nexus!" He eagerly pointed the device at Dante, as he did so a small rotating 3d image of Dante appeared above the device, along with some script. Dante was looking annoyed.

"Alright, what is that? And you still haven't told me what's going on enough to satisfy me." The Doctor held up a hand while eagerly inspecting his new toy. He answered Dante.

"This is exactly what we needed Dante, Son of Sparda." Dante furrowed his brow as The Doctor continued. "This little device, holds information on everyone that the man in white thought he'd deal with, both his enemies and his allies. It knows everything about everyone in all of Creation!" He excitedly pointed to the text as the small holographic Dante started swinging his small sword similar to how the real Dante had moments before. "This has all of your information as far as the man in white knows of you- how old you are, the fact that you're part demon and part human, your weapons and how you fight-" The Doctor suddenly looked at Dante with an expression John could only define as 'odd'. "Where are all of your weapons?" Suddenly the ground shook beneath the four of them as a torrent of white light hit the earth several miles away. The light made the same noise they had heard earlier, a screeching, a rending, John understood now what it was even as The Doctor was trying to explain to Dante. _It's the sound of a world being consumed._

"Back to the TARDIS, everyone come on!" The Doctor was pulling at Dante's sleeve and beckoning John and Tony to follow. "I know what he did, let's go- this world won't last much longer!" They all ran into the TARDIS. Dante took a brief moment to take in the details before shaking his head and walking further in. Apparently he was hard to phase. John was the last in, closing the doors behind him. The Doctor was flipping switches, the ship's engine engaged once more, wheezing and gasping, the four of them felt the ship fade away from Dante's world. Dante wasn't looking too happy about that.

"What do you mean my world won't last much longer?" The Doctor was intent of his controls and wasn't playing attention to Dante. "Hey, Doc, explain why my world is being destroyed and why you think that's okay!" The Doctor looked up at Dante and straightened his bow tie.

"Dante, it appears the man in white took someone or something from your world. Those rifts appear to be a localized power of the man in white, it's likely how he moves his henchmen between worlds. Even most spaceships can't jump between universes," The Doctor paused for breath, checking the nexus. "but those rifts are doors, doors anyone or anything can go open. There's no telling who or what will come through that, or how long it will last." The Doctor turned to look at all three members of his 'army'. "Thanks to this nexus, I think I know where he's going next. Whatever his plan is, it requires certain artifacts from other worlds. The last entry accessed for this nexus was 'materia', whatever those are, we need to get them before he does." John walked up to Dante and placed a hand on his shoulder, Dante turned to look at him- looking much younger now than he had when he appeared and fearlessly slew demons.

"Dante, in my world I'm called Master Chief- but I had another title, one given to me by an ancient alien construct. It tried to kill me but I still remember the name, 'Reclaimer'. If it's good enough for my world, it's good enough for these new ones. We can get your world back, can't we Doctor?" John turned to the man who had promised him they could do exactly that. The Doctor looked to them both.

"Yes, I promise, if we can defeat the man in white everything will go back to the way it was." Dante nodded, regaining his confident attitude from earlier.

"Alright, guess if this guy stole something from my world it's only fair I help to get it back. Things are getting crazy, let's rock!" _Our group grows by yet another member._ John thought to himself as Dante spoke to Tony, questioning him about his armor while Tony was eagerly looking at Dante's pistols. _He's a potent warrior, he doesn't look like a team player, but I doubt most of the heroes will be, I guess we'll have to learn to work together._ The Doctor walked over to the two and explained how the TARDIS had created sleeping quarters for the group. John nodded and followed the trio to see how the accomodations were. _But I wonder... what sort of beings will be on the side of the enemy?_

* * *

On another world, beneath a smiling moon, a man in all black races along the rooftops, hunting for something. Upon hearing a noise the man looks skyward to see a young girl with a scythe leaping towards him "Evil human, your soul is mine!"


	3. Episode 3 Galaxy Train

Episode 3 "Galaxy Train"

_"If you forget your fear you become reckless." _\- Soul Evans

**Maka Albarn**

_"We found the evil human, time to eat his soul!"_ Maka smiled as they hurtled towards the masked man, as usual, Soul was having no issues working up a hunger for the souls. Just today a new mission had gone up at the Death Meister Academy saying a suspicious figure had been seen in Death City. Maka's Soul Perception ability made it easy to find the anomaly, his soul looked different from any soul Maka had seen before. Maka swung Soul in a horizontal swipe, relying on her speed to hopefully end the fight before it could begin. The masked man ducked beneath her attack, placing his palm against her chest and pushing her away from himself and fleeing the battle. _He touched me! But he paused before pushing me away, what gives? _

Soul appeared confused as well, _"Yeah, he definitely hesitated after making contact, what's his deal?" _Maka didn't know the answer, but she gave chase to the masked man, leaping from rooftop to rooftop in her pursuit. The man surprised her, hurling a wire out to a nearby steeple and swinging away. Maka was enjoying the physical exertion the run was giving her, she could sense Soul getting into the spirit of the chase as well, _"Let's show him how cool we are. Time to fly Maka?"_

"You bet, let's go Soul!" Maka adjusted her grip on Soul's scythe form as he sprouted a pair of angelic wings to give them the power of flight. With a surge of speed they caught up to the man as he ascended to the top of a church. The man surprised them, hurling a knife in their direction, Soul dodged the attack but Maka noticed a wire attached to the knife as it encircled Soul. _Uh oh!_ The man in black began to glow, an electric discharge ran through the wire- shocking Maka and Soul.

The sudden attack ruined the Soul Resonance, causing Soul's wings to vanish as he plummeted alongside Maka. Soul reverted to human form as he fell, he landed heavily and didn't move. Maka landed lightly and rushed at the enemy, she punched at the man but he evaded the blow- catching her arm and twisting it behind her; rendering her unable to act. Furious at how easily she had been captured, Maka butted her head backwards to smash the man's face. She was abruptly thrown forward, rolling into a ready stance to fight. Maka sensed Soul had recovered and was waiting for his chance to reenter the fray.

The man ceased his movements as his mask fell off his face in pieces, revealing a young man with dark hair. Maka realized what was wrong with the fight. _There's no killing intent from him._ Soul appeared to come to the same conclusion, getting up calmly and standing besides Maka.

"Dude, holding back isn't cool, fight at your best or not at all." The young man merely shook his head before he replied in a language Maka and Soul didn't understand. Maka knew just enough about other languages to identify it as Japanese. Soul looked at Maka, "Maka, you read a lot, what did he say?" Maka quickly pulled a book from her secret pocket and slammed it onto Soul's head, denting it- though the book was thankfully unharmed.

"Like I know, Soul! We live in Nevada!"

At the look of confusion on Maka's face, the man spoke again in English. "I have no reason to kill you, if I did, you would be dead now." Maka resented the fact that the man in black was right, Soul and her had underestimated him and it could've cost them their lives if he had tried. The man continued to speak, "These are strange circumstances for me, a large light appeared in the city I live in. I investigated it and was pulled through to this place. Tell me where I am."

Maka frowned, she wasn't overly fond of being ordered by strangers, but her mission had been to locate the suspicious man and deal with him. Attacking him had seemed the best option earlier. Soul wasn't quite cowed by the man yet, "Tell us your name and what you are, then we'll tell you where you ended up. Maka can tell you aren't human and I smelled innocent blood on your hands, that's why we attacked you."

The man briefly paused before answering, "My name is Hei. I am a Contractor, I have special abilities normal humans do not. You're no stranger to this, you aren't normal humans yourselves. Innocent blood... yes, I suppose I have shed innocent blood. Now, answer me, where am I?"

Maka was worried about this Hei. _What is he? I don't feel like he's evil, but he admits to hurting innocent people._ Still, he had answered Soul's questions so Maka was obligated to tell him what he wanted to know. "You're in Death City, it's in the state of Nevada in the United States. Lord Death is in charge of the Death Meister Academy and the city, perhaps you could talk to him about going back home?" Hei appeared to consider her question, he was silent just long enough for Maka to get nervous before answering.

"Lord Death? This place sounds strange, I suppose I should meet him." Hei pointed at the Death Meister Academy off in the distance, the skull and candles visible even several miles away. "Would that be the Academy?" Maka nodded in response. Hei frowned as he looked at it. "Is that dinosaur normally there?"

Maka was puzzled by his question, "What dinosaur?" she turned and saw a great shape walking towards the city, it looked like a large dinosaur with giant spinal fins on its back, it dwarfed Death Meister Academy- it was taller than all of Death City! A roar echoed across the city, bursts of light appeared on the creature, probably teachers attacking the threat. In response the monster reared back and roared, the spinal fins on its back began to glow, one after another. The giant leaned forward and blasted the Academy, Maka cried out in horror as the DMA was obliterated by the attack. She felt more than saw the many souls being destroyed by the monster's breath. _This can't be happening, this can't be real!_ The creature wasn't done yet, it continued to lay waste to the city, rampaging in a straight line towards Maka, Soul, and Hei.

Maka found herself unable to move even as Soul was shaking her, "Maka we need to go!" Hei quickly picked Maka up in his arms, she barely noticed- _Dad's gone, Kid's gone, Black Star, Liz, Patty- they can't have survived that... _Soul shouted at Hei, "Something's wrong, I'm not getting through!" Hei remained calm, even in the face of imminent death. A shrill noise reached their ears, making their eyes water and grit their teeth, except Maka who remained almost comatose. Hei and Soul turned to see a column of white light strike the ground in front of them. The light was opaque, they couldn't see through it or anything inside of it. The air around it was rippling, like air over a hot road in the summer.

Hei turned to Soul, holding Maka in his arms as she weekly pointed towards the creature that was even now smashing their house to pieces, "Soul, I don't know where this will take us- but it's how I arrived at this place, so it should take us somewhere else. Do you want to go?"

What Soul wanted right now was to be the one holding Maka instead of this stranger who had recently admitted to hurting innocent people. Maka looked so frail in his arms, Hei was nearly a foot taller than either of them. "Where will we go? What will we find?" Hei only shook his head as the monster roared again, it had nearly reached the church.

"I don't know, maybe it will take us back to my world. As long as it isn't here, I don't care at this moment where it goes." Soul happened to agree on that point, Maka was in shock and Soul was severely shaken himself, so he was going to let Hei lead for now. They leaped into the light as the monster destroyed the church and everything around it with a sweep of its tail.

* * *

**Cloud Strife**

_Time to go, Fenrir. _Cloud Strife rode his motorcycle towards another torrent of light reaching the ground outside Midgar. It was the fifth such attack recently, each time strange creatures had emerged, rampaging and attacking anyone they encountered. World Regenesis Organization troops had been deployed all around Edge to keep citizens safe. While not official members, Cloud and his friends had decided to fight alongside the WRO against the foreign monsters. Even Vincent had come out of his reclusive habits to help.

Racing towards the enemy, Cloud drew the first parts of his Fusion Blade from his motorcycle as the shrieking of the portal grew until it peaked, signaling the coming enemies. Small goblinoid creatures were emerging from the light alongside taller knights in dark full plate armor. Cloud noticed small skulls on the goblin belt buckles as the nearby WRO troops opened fire on them. The smaller creatures were little threat, it was the large armored knights that gave the WRO trouble, they were Cloud's targets.

Cloud slashed at one, knocking it backwards before leaping off his bike to strike another down; a third dark figure cut at him, Cloud parried the blow and twisted around with the Hollow Blade sword section to stab it through the chest. The battle went on for some time before Cloud felt the familiar build-up of spiritual energy, he channeled it down his sword as fired a beam of energy along the ground directly at the nearby enemies, blasting them aside. The nearby WRO troops cheered as the portal the new monsters had come from began to grow smaller, eventually vanishing. Without additional troops to back them up the remaining foes were dispatched with no significant casualties to WRO forces. Cloud mounted his bike again, nodding at the nearby unit leader before gunning the engine to head back to Edge.

_ I hope Reeve or Rufus is making headway on figuring this out. There's more of them each time. At least we haven't had to start using our materia yet._ Cloud took out his phone to contact Yuffie and tell her the breach had been cleared. She had volunteered to be the communications specialist for the team, probably so she could keep an eye on the materia that was being kept at the headquarters until it was needed. "Yuffie?"

"Heyyyyy Cloud! So how'd the battle go?" As always her enthusiasm leaked through the phone hard enough to hurt.

"It went fine, we suffered no injuries and the portal closed. The number of enemies keeps increasing, has anyone figured out what's causing this yet?"

"Ummm, Reeve said it had something to do with other dimensions but I wasn't listening to him. You'll have to ask Tifa, she's on her way out to deliver some food to us, I can't wait to taste her cooking!" _You might regret that once you actually 'eat' her cooking._ "Hey, so since you aren't using your materia, would you be upset if I were to take them with me when I-"

BOOM, a loud blast sounded through the phone. Cloud also saw a plume of smoke and dust rise in the distance where the temporary HQ had been placed. "Yuffie? Yuffie!" Cloud hurriedly accelerated Fenrir towards the disturbance. _A sneak attack? The enemies so far have been pretty stupid, have they advanced in tactics?_ Rounding a hill, Cloud saw the camp- or what was left of it. Anything that hadn't been blown apart was still on fire. _The enemy hasn't had anything like this before!_ "Yuffie!" Cloud called out as he rode through, heedless of any attention he might bring. WRO bodies were scattered around, some were still moving, others weren't. Cloud heard a noise, it took him a moment to recognize it.

"Cloud! Over here!" It was Tifa. Cloud dismounted his bike and ran towards Tifa's voice. He found her kneeling over Yuffie, who was sprawled out on the ground. Tifa had a materia in her hand, using its power to heal Yuffie. Before Cloud's eyes Yuffie's injuries were fading, bruises were turning lighter, cuts were closing, and she was breathing again. She hadn't died, no magic could bring back the dead, but she had come close. Cloud knelt by his fallen ally to speak with Tifa.

"Did you see what happened?"

Tifa shook her head in response. "No, I saw the blast and thought Yuffie was just being Yuffie again. When I got here whatever did this was gone." Cloud stood up to look for enemies but Tifa grabbed his arm before he could leave. "Cloud," Tifa's tone stopped Cloud cold, it was laced with concern, "the only materia here are the ones I brought with me."

Cloud turned to look at her. "They took the materia Yuffie was guarding? How many did Yuffie have?"

"All of them."_ What?!_

"When you say all of them..." Cloud feared the worst, Tifa confirmed his suspicions with her next sentence.

"They took everything besides what we were carrying." Cloud was horrified, the materia that they were working so hard to collect for years had been stolen, again! _Only what we were carrying?_

"Tifa, I don't have any materia with me. Reeve and Barret don't really like using them and Nanaki hasn't got here yet. Cid just flies the Shera around to transport troops and Vincent has a few magic ones but that's it- what do you have?"

Tifa looked at Yuffie, who still hadn't woken up. "All I have are the healing ones."

Cloud's blood ran cold. "So they've really taken them all." _The last time that happened, Bahamut SIN blew up half of Edge, this is bad._ "We need to find whoever stole them." Tifa nodded in agreement, but turned to look at the nearby fallen WRO members. Cloud read her expression easily enough. "Tifa?" She turned to look at him, he could see the pain of losing friends in her eyes, just like when Sector 7 had been destroyed. "Stay here, use your healing materia to save as many as you can. Vincent should be able to handle any enemy attacks that spring up. Call Reeve and tell him what happened. I'm going to go find whatever did this."

"Hey, I'm awake, heal me some more Tifa." Yuffie had apparently recovered enough to speak. She tried to sit up but returned to lying down, holding her sides. "Owowowowow, okay, okay, I'm not moving. Hey Cloud," Yuffie opened her eyes and weakly raised an arm to point to the East. "He went that way."

Tifa turned to Cloud as he looked to the East, "Go get him, hero." Cloud nodded and mounted Fenrir, racing off to the East. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, but he was hoping he'd know it when he saw it. _It's not like anyone has an excuse to be out this way._

Cloud barely had a second of warning when the attack came. It was a small bomb that rolled beneath his bike, Cloud reacted with more energy than he normally would in the face of the unknown- leaping off the motorcycle as the bomb detonated, hurling the vehicle forward to roll and flip as it lost its speed. Cloud turned in the direction he saw the bomb come from and beheld a youth slightly younger than himself, dressed in a green tunic with pointed ears. Whoever he was, he drew a longbow and fired at Cloud, signaling ill intent.

Cloud deflected the arrow and charged his opponent, the green man drew his sword and prepared his shield- ready to receive Cloud's attack. The meeting of Cloud's sword and his enemy's shield released a shockwave in all directions along with a massive thunderclap of sound. Cloud immediately struck again, and again, his opponent was just barely keeping up with his blows. Cloud pressed the assault, pushing the youth back until Cloud had him backed against a nearby rock formation. _This guy managed to get the drop on Yuffie and the WRO?_ Cloud relented as the young man in green fell to his knees, clearly spent and without the ability to fight anymore. Cloud stood at the ready for any tricks, and asked him, "Are you the one who stole the materia?" The green boy simply glared at him from where he kneeled. Cloud was distracted by a new sound he had not heard before, a sort of wheezing, groaning noise. He turned to see a blue box appear behind him, slowly fading into existence in time with the weird noise it was producing. The doors opened and a man in a patched coat with a bow-tie stepped out and waved at him with one hand while the other had a small device in it.

"Hello Cloud Strife, greetings from another world. Quick question, do you still have your materia?" Cloud looked back and was startled to see the man in green had vanished. He turned to look at the new arrivals. _I think my life is a bout to get complicated again._

* * *

**Boba Fett**

Meanwhile, in the upper atmosphere, the Slave 1 waited. Boba Fett stood at his controls, staring at the enemies he had been given. His mission had been simple, steal the little jewels for his employer. He'd almost left the Hylian behind, but he had proven useful in delaying the spiky-haired swordsman from catching up to Boba as he started his ship. _They're right there, they're just talking, I could end all of our problems with one salvo..._ High above an alien world, Boba Fett made his decision. He sent the Slave 1 into a nosedive towards The Doctor's forces, readying the twin blaster cannons to wipe them out of this universe- and the next one.


	4. Episode 4 Those Who Fight

_Episode 4 "Those Who Fight"_

_"...that's how life is, sometimes you're the cat, sometimes the mouse."_ \- Haruko

**Boba Fett**

Boba Fett had decided to take matters into his own hands, he aimed the Slave 1's blaster cannons at the enemy forces grouped so conveniently together outside of The Doctor's blue box. _Why wasn't this the plan from the start?_ Breaking through the cloud cover, Boba took aim at The Doctor's forces and prepared to trigger the guns, intending to send several kilotons of blaster cannon-fire straight at them and ending the threat before it could be a problem.

* * *

**Dante**

Dante had never really been big on working with others. So far this little trip hadn't been remotely worth his involvement from where he was standing. Hell, there wasn't a babe in sight- wasn't the hero supposed to always get a girl or two? The Doctor was busy telling the broody fellow in the black the same thing he told Dante earlier. "Entropy as a person", "walls between worlds breaking down" "we need your help" and so on. _He talks more than I do, I hate that._ Looking into the sky at a weird light in the distance shaped a bit like a keyhole, Dante felt like he would've done better just staying in his world and killing whatever came out of that dimensional rift. Where was the action? The enemies? The fun? Dante suddenly realized his mistake when a ship broke through the clouds and raced at the party with high speed.

Dante signaled to get the new guy's attention, "Hey, spikey-hair, Cloud- is that thing yours?" Cloud turned to look at the incoming ship.

"I don't recognize it, it's not ours!" The ship began firing lasers in their direction, just glancing blows were leaving huge craters in hills and shattering rock formations. _That's way too much firepower to handle!_ The ship flew over the last obstacle and unleashed its full salvo at them, a swarm of lasers and missiles raced in their direction. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, there was no way to block the death coming towards them.

Except something did, a streak of light flew between the group and the other ship, Dante caught a glipse of a small red blur firing a multitude of cannons and lasers of its own. Both of them were eclipsed in explosions before Dante caught sight of them again. Each ship ascended, trailing smoke and energy streamers though neither looked like it had taken significant damage. Dante got a good look at them at last, the ship that had attacked them was flying at an odd angle, with the majority of the craft being parallel to the ground. It appeared to have the superior weapons as it was firing off salvo after salvo at the smaller ship. The smaller ship was colored bright red and was shaped crudely in comparison to the other ship, almost like it was made of blocks. It seemed to be focusing more on evading the enemy attacks than fighting back.

"Dante!" The Doctor was yelling his name. "Come on, we need to get into the TARDIS!" Dante turned to see the entire group running back to the ship, including Cloud. _Boy, he was persuaded pretty easily for a guy whose world was under attack by aliens. _This train of thought was interrupted as a great streak of light manifested in the sky. Dante recognized that light even before he heard the shrieking, he sprinted into the TARDIS. Moments later the ship faded from the world and sped off in pursuit.

* * *

**Boba Fett**

Boba Fett guided his ship into the dimensional rift and released the controls. The Slave 1 wasn't controlled by him when flying between worlds, a fact he loathed to accept. A sudden shudder wracked his vessel. _Did that stupid little toy ship manage to damage the Slave 1?_ Abruptly all power cut out. Boba didn't panic, but he did wonder how his ship had stopped moving so suddenly without his notice. _Wait a second, there's gravity and light, I'm docked._ He accessed the entry hatch and emerged into the hanger of an imperial ship. _Well this brings back memories._ He noticed Haruko standing at the hangar doors and chatting with some stormtroopers. Boba glared in her direction, he still hadn't forgotten her laughing at him after Stark had piledrived him 10 feet into the asphalt. _Bitch._ The Hylian had already departed Boba's ship and was walking towards her quickly, no doubt knowing Fett had contemplated leaving him behind. Boba took a moment to look around, he wanted to know what ship he was on. _Executor-class? Where'd he pick one of these up from?_

**"Boba Fett," **Boba did not scare easily, even in the Sarlacc pit he had been accepting of what was to come, but just by the sound of that voice Boba became afraid, **"bounty hunter, turn around and face me." **Boba did as commanded, well aware of the consequences. He turned to see a projection of his employer standing before him. It did not escape his notice that every single soul in the immediate vicinity had gone completely silent to watch the spectacle. Boba didn't bow, he knew better, the man he served did not want anything like respect- he simply wanted loyal servants to do as they were told. **"Your mission was simple, collect the materia and bring them to me." **A shimmering portal of light appeared next to the Slave 1, a nearby officer hopped out of the ship carrying the chest Boba had stolen from the ninja-girl. **"Did I tell you to attack them?"**

Boba responded, he didn't bother to keep his distaste from his tone, hiding it would not be beneficial. "I had a chance to get rid of all your problems in one go- should I not have taken it and just slunk away with my tail between my legs?" _I have to be careful, he's not a stable person by any stretch of the word- especially judging from what he did to the Justice League._ A silence fell over the room as the mysterious man in white simply stared at Boba. _Is he waiting for more? What does he want?_ "Is that what you wanted from me?"

The man didn't move, but Boba was struck across the chest, hurling him backwards across the deck. Despite flying more than 100 feet back, Boba's boss was still directly in front of him after he stopped rolling. **"I expect you to be independant, indeed, it's a reason I saved you from your destiny."** _Not too sure I should thank you for that._ Boba climbed to his feet slowly, that blow hadn't been entirely physical, his chest ached in a way that no attack had ever hurt him before. **"I do however, expect my interests to come first, your mission was to bring me what I asked for. Your initiative in attacking the enemy jeapordized that goal. It was not wrong, merely misguided. Thus I have decided to bring an extra hand to keep you in line. I believe you know him, this ship is under his command."** _No way, it can't be._ Boba felt a familiar chill descend over him as he sensed a presence behind him. He turned slowly, knowing what he would see. **"He calls himself Darth Vader."**

The Sith Lord Boba knew well stood in front of him, looking every bit as forboding as he had the last time Fett laid eyes on him. His hissing breath hadn't changed. "Greetings bounty hunter, it appears you're in need of some guidance." Vader walked forward to stand next to Boba so he could speak directly to the man in white. "I will ensure he stays true to task. Has Mundus adjusted to his new body?"

The man in white lifted his hand, the shaft of lightnext to the Slave 1 expanded and began emitting the shrieking sound indicating something was being transported. **"He has, his hatred for Dante is indeed remarkable. Also, Spiderman will not be rejoining you, he's helped his former friend enough- he will not be leaving this world again. I look forward to seeing the results of this mission." **The man's visage faded away before Fett's eyes. The shrieking began to peak behind them as Vader turned to stare at Fett.

"Our next mission is recruitment. We've lost enough time having to be delayed like this. The girl joins us or dies."

* * *

**Master Chief**

"Now the energy magazine will need to recharge every now and then, but for the most part your bullets will never run out now." Tony had decided Master Chief's weapons needed some improvements. _Still using regular bullets, some future he comes from. _He'd appropriated some things from The Doctor's closet and after some tinkering he'd fixed Chief's weapons to fire energy rounds. "I don't have the proper tools or equipment or else you'd never need to reload or stop shooting. As it is, essentially you have a full magazine that takes about 10 seconds to recharge once emptied, longer if you blow them all in extremely rapid succession." Tony looked at MC and presented him his refurbished battle rifle and pistols.

MC took them and nodded. "Thank you Tony, ammunition was a concern, I've had to improvise weaponry a lot in the past- it will be... refreshing to have a consistant weapon." While Chief adjusted his new weapons Tony took a long look around the TARDIS central hub. _Two heroes in armored suits, two swordsman with swords so large they're probably compensating for something, and the crazy Doctor at the helm._ Tony looked at Chief and shook his head.

"Boy, you've got your work cut out for you huh? Having to form battle plans for all these people with unusual powers and equipment?"

Chief just shrugged, "If that's what it takes to save Creation, fine. Cloud and Dante are just fast and strong- and you're not that much different from a Spartan. The group we have isn't that weird so far." Suddenly a new sound emerged in the TARDIS that caught everyone off guard. _Knock knock._

Tony looked at The Doctor. "Doctor, we're in the middle of traveling between dimensions aren't we?" _That's some really polite knocking._

The Doctor frowned as he hit a few more keys and looked at the door. _Knock knock_. "Yeaaah."

"So, how can someone be knocking at the door?" Tony was new to this dimension jumping business, the closest he'd come was riding that nuke into an alien army. _What strange force is on the other side of that door?_ Cloud and Dante both drew their swords and took up positions near the door, Chief pointed his new gun in that direction, motioning for Tony to open it. Tony walked towards the portal, waiting for another knock. The moment he heard the first one he jerked the door open before boosting up to the roof ready to engage the enemy. A teenage boy walked into the TARDIS, he was wearing baggy black clothing and he had spiky hair similar to Cloud's, he was also holding a giant key for some reason.

Before Tony or anyone else could react, Dante leapt at the new arrival- slashing his blade straight at the kid. Astonishingly, Dante's sword just struck the side of the ship, with the teen standing atop it looking at him. "Hey, I saw Cloud with you guys, are you his friends?"

Cloud appeared confused, "Do I know you?" The boy looked hurt.

"Cloud, it's me, Sora! Don't you remember me?" Cloud shook his head in reply. "Come on, I've been looking for you since you fought Sephiroth! You don't remember the big battle? Everyone was fighting, Leon, Tifa, Yuffie, even Aerith was fighting-" _Clang._

Cloud had dropped his large sword, onto the deck, a stunned look on his face. "Aerith was fighting?" Sora looked slightly relieved.

"Yeah, Aerith was there."

Cloud picked up his sword and sheathed it before walking away to the other end of the TARDIS. "I don't know you kid, whatever Cloud you knew wasn't me- Aerith doesn't live in my world, she died in my arms." Tony was surprised by this news, it had never really hit him until now that these weren't just some sort of temporary allies that had just appeared- they were living, breathing people with histories all their own. _Cloud sounds like he really cared about her. And this kid is from a world where she's still alive? I can see how that's awkward._

Sora looked heartbroken, "But, she's still there in the Radiant Garden, after I defeated Xemnas I took the Gummi Ship to go find you after you disappeared..."

Dante had remained silent until now, but he poked the kid in the back with a finger. "So you're the pilot of that little red ship? Sorry for swinging at you earlier then, thanks for stopping the other one, that thing was nasty."

Sora was still looking at Cloud as he exited the central hub of the TARDIS, presumably going to check on his bike. "He... really doesn't know me. Everyone forgot me before- but now he's never even met me?" Tony wasn't big on comfort, but Sora looked devastated at this news. Tony decided to take the initiative and placed his hand on the young man's shoulder.

"Sora was it?" After he nodded, Tony continued, "Listen to me, the barriers between realities are breaking- the Cloud you see here is probably a different Cloud than the one you knew. Your Cloud is probably somewhere in your universe, you've jumped to another dimension somehow." Sora shook his head slowly.

"I know how I did it, it's the power of my ship. I just didn't think I'd find a different Cloud." Sora looked at all of them, "So who're all you then? This Cloud's friends?"

Tony looked to The Doctor, "This falls under your job description doesn't it?" The Doctor sighed in response.

"I should make a video, it'd be easier than having to explain this every time. Oh well, we've got a bit of a trip so come here Sora- let's talk about entropy and the end of all the worlds and life as we know it."

Sora groaned at that news, "Not again?"

* * *

**Tony Stark**

Some time later, the TARDIS finally arrived at its destination. The Doctor sounded upset once the wheezing stopped. "We beat them here? How? How?! They were in front of us! The stupid Logic Barrier stopped time travel, everyone's going at the same speed all across Creation- so how come they aren't here yet? Did they stop for crackers or something?"

Tony decided to tune out this tirade. The Doctor was obviously venting some of his stress, flying between dimensions while entropy was destroying them wasn't the easiest work. He noticed Master Chief approaching him.

"Tony, can your suit maintain contact with mine?"

"Chief, I could call Cloud's cell phone in this suit from the other side of the planet," _At least, on __my__ planet anyways._ "I can maintain contact with you."

Chief nodded, "Good, we're going to split into two parties and see what's going on. The Doctor seems to think we got ahead of them somehow and he's not sure what world we're in yet. You, Dante, and Cloud are going to be in one group. The Doctor, Sora, and myself will be in another, he's not sure Sora and Cloud should be near one another."

"They're going to need to work together at some point."  
"I told him that and he admitted that was true, but he wanted to make sure they wouldn't cause a paradox first. 'That's the last bloody thing we need to happen now' were his exact words."

Tony happened to agree, saving Creation would be hard enough. He saw Dante and Cloud standing off to the side, neither looked all that confident about walking through the new world. Tony walked up and put his arm over their shoulders. "Hey guys, what's the matter? We're all fearsome heroes, what are you afraid of?"

Without uttering a word, Dante and Cloud simultaneously pointed at the sign regarding the direction The Doctor had told them to go. Tony leaned forward to read it, the characters were not familiar to him. _Dante and Cloud could read it?_ Tony ran a quick recognition program and discovered the message, and why Cloud and Dante were hesitating. _Aw hell._

_District 7, Academy City, welcome girls!_

True to the sign's message, beyond it hundreds of school girls were walking about. Many were pointing at the trio, some were laughing, others looked a bit scared. Tony was stunned, "The next destination of a force that wants to end the entirety of the cosmos- is a giant school for little girls?" _To be fair, it's a really awesome school by the looks of it._ The technology level here was higher than the standards from his world. Small cylindrical robots were buzzing around collecting trash. Tony's suit was picking up signals left and right, several of which appeared to be government and police-based information networks. He also could see cameras everywhere. Tony keyed his helmet to speak with Master Chief.

"Hey Chief," _Chief, Doctor, Cloud, at least I have an actual name,_ "is The Doctor sure he doesn't want to contact the government or the authorities? This world seems pretty advanced, maybe they can help."

The Chief's response was delayed, presumably while he parroted the question to The Doctor. He responded shortly while Tony watched several girls venture close to Dante and Cloud, asking if they could take a picture with them. "He says that's a fair idea, except we have no proof to offer them."

"No proof?" Tony couldn't believe what he was hearing, "We're people from another world- some of us are decidely not human- and we came here in a TIME MACHINE! Explain to me how we don't have proof!" He turned to keep an eye on his party members. _Oh god, Dante and Cloud are getting swarmed by girls wanting pictures, these aren't weird alien girls that'll grow teeth and eat us are they?_

"Tony? The Doctor said-" abruptly the connection cut off. Tony tried keying it back up but was met only with static. _That can't be good._ Suddenly the bright light that had been shining overhead wasobscured by something. Tony looked up to see a massive wedge of a ship blocking the sun. Smaller vehicles were leaving it in droves, flying over the city and firing lasers with seemingly no intent beyond total destruction of the city. Larger versions were also present, dropping bombs that were leveling buildings.

_Time to go!_ Tony activated his repulsors and launched himself skywards. Initially he targetted the bombers, firing blast after blast into one until it exploded. His efforts bore fruit as a decent amount of the fighters broke off from destroying the city and began chasing him. _Well, the plan worked, now what?_ The battle in the sky turned into sheer chaos after a short while, Tony was going all-out to avoid being hit. For every laser he dodged another was coming and for every ship he hit another three took its place. He arced between a few standing buildings to gain some breathing room, several fighters attempted to replicate the feat but one clipped the building, causing it to spin out of control and strike the others. As he flew he noticed small details here and there about the raging battle they'd walked into.

Additional ships were landing in the streets and men in white armor jumping out to fight on the ground. Local forces appeared to be on-site to engage them but looked hopelessly outnumbered, Tony caught bits and pieces of the transmissions but couldn't follow the conversations. _I miss Jarvis so much right now, . At least they aren't shooting at us._ Cloud and Dante were assaulting one landing ship by themselves, Tony could barely keep up with the swordsmen- each was darting and weaving amongst the enemy, cutting them down and deflecting blaster-fire. Tony was surprised to see a large 4-legged mech walking down the street, firing lasers in a one-two firing pattern. _That's an absurd design- what's the point of that?! _As a weapon-specialist himself, he was affronted at the machine. He quickly landed on the thing and proceeded to activate his wrist lasers, cutting the 'head' of the machine off in a few seconds of focused power. In the distance Tony saw another mech walking towards a large building before a beam of light suddenly erupted from the roof, cleanly piercing straight through the machine. _Was that a railgun? _Alarms triggered in his helmet, going off just quickly enough for Tony to brace himself before he was struck in the back by something and hurled straight into and through the ship Could and Dante were attacking 100 meters down the road. Cloud ran to Tony's side amidst the wreckage as Dante continued to fight the white armored soldiers.

"Tony, are you okay?" Cloud began pushing pieces and parts off the fallen Iron Man. Tony sat up, answering in a voice that was far from amused.

"Did anyone see what hit me?"

"I did!" Dante dispatched his last enemy with a kick, knocking the soldier straight past Tony and Cloud. Dante turned to point at the street Tony had just been hurled down, "The bastard's right there!"

An armored form floated several stories above the ground. It had 3 glowing red eyes on its metal face. Giant armored wings sprang from the back of the creature as well. "Allies of Dante, begone! My quarrel is with the half-blood spawn of Sparda and nobody else."

Tony bolted upright in outrage, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SUIT?!" Whoever or whatever that was, it had taken one of his suits and altered it to its current form. _If there's one thing I __hate__ it's people stealing my things._ He would've charged the enemy right then and there if it wasn't for Dante waving him back.

"Easy there Tony, this guy had some beef with my dad back in the day. I guess beating the crap out of him and sealing him in another dimension wasn't enough of a clue that nobody wants him around." Dante walked forward with his arms outstretched. "So you want to have another go at me Mundus? Give me your best shot!" The three-eyed angel obliged, firing spears of crimson energy from his hands at Dante. The demon-hunter quickly dodged them, pulling out his twin pistols to fire at his adversary. The bullets hit the target but Mundus wasn't even flinching from them, instead an eye symbol on his chest opened and fired a bolt of lightning. Dante was caught mid-dodge by the lightning and blasted deep into the road by the attack.

* * *

**Mundus**

_The Spawn of Sparda is as weak as he was before, this time he will not escape me._ Mundus was enjoying his freedom. The man in white had made him a simple offer, work with him and be freed from his imprisonment. _I will have dominion over the entire world, it is just as I would wish for it to be._ True, his rule had required help from another, but he could look past that for a few thousands years. The man had even given Mundus a new body, this new form was imbued with Mundus' essence, allowing it the same power and strength he had in his true form- along with some new functions. Mundus utilized one of those new abilities now, with a flap of his wings a dozen missiles were released from hidden compartments, each homing in on the ground where the half-breed had been flung. _Die Dante, die and let the last of Sparda's blood be removed forever._ The missiles hit their mark, each exploding with enough force to cause nearby vehicles to be tossed aside like leaves. Mundus began to laugh, "The poor whelp, not a man, not a demon, not anything; you died as you lived, nothing!"

Suddenly, the half-breed leapt from the hole Mundus has blasted him into. His body was still repairing itself from the damage done to him, his clothes still had flames crawling on them- but Mundus was distracted by the hate in his eyes. _Those eyes of Sparda! _Dante extended his sword straight ahead of him as he leaped, Mundus raised his arm to deflect the strike, knocking Dante up in to the air. Dante pivoted his body as he descended, bringing his blade down with both hands onto Mundus' upraised arm. The impact left a long scratch on Mundus' new body and pushed him downwards until he was mere feet above the earth. A memory flashed through his head, something his liberator had told him.

**"Your new body is powerful, but not invincible; if it is destroyed your essence will be sent back to the Demon World that no longer exists. You'll either die or be forever lost in entropy. Take care of it or you will suffer for your negligence."** _No, I have suffered enough at your hands! _With one wingbeat Mundus surged back skywards, he reached forward with his other arm to grab Dante. His armored hand easily closed around Dante's skull, squeezing with all of his force while he channeled his energy into the hand to burn Dante directly. Although his new body did not possess the ability to do so- Mundus smiled. _Die you miserable worm- DIE!_

* * *

**Dante**

_AAAAAAAH! _Dante could barely concentrate through the pain. Normally he could take being hit without much effort, but having his head crushed and burned at the same time was more than he could take. It took all of his concentration to reach for Ebony and to aim it at Mundus' head, Dante pulled the trigger, sending a shot of his own demonic energy straight into Mundus' center eye. Mundus released his grip on Dante, howling and reaching for his face. Dante plummeted to the ground, unable to land properly in his current condition. To his credit, he remained conscious after the fall, though he could hardly manage to see through the pain. _Guess this is it then, sorry guys..._

"Maggot! Filth! An insect of a being! Why will you not just die!" Mundus apparently wasn't happy Dante wasn't kicking the bucket. _Can't say I'm sorry about that._ Dante managed to stand, though barely.

"I'm not dying to some has-been like you. New cover on the outside, same worthless crap on the inside." He didn't know where Tony and Cloud had gone while he was getting his ass handed to him. _I did tell them I had this, guess I can't be that mad._ "You're gonna need something better than a glorified face-lift to deal with me Mundus!" Mundus took this banter about how Dante figured he would, with lots of screaming. His screams abruptly stopped as a repulsor blast nailed him square in the face.

"Dante!" _Huh, they came back for me? That's nice of them..._ Dante fell backwards, bravado gone, completely devoid of energy. Mundus saw this moment and spread his wings and arms out, creating a magic circle of energy in front of himself before unleashing the torrent of power straight at Dante. Time seemed to slow down, even though The Doctor said time could no longer be manipulated, a dark blur landed in front of Dante- it was Sora. _Move you dumb kid! That attack will kill us both!_

Faster than Dante would've believed he was capable of, Sora raised his keyblade towards the incoming death, "Defend!" A shield of energy formed over Sora and Dante. Mundus' attack hit it and was completely absorbed before a bright lance of light fired backwards out of the dome, striking Mundus and hurling him higher into the air. Another blur appeared behind Mundus- this one literally glowing with power. Cloud channeled his energy straight into his sword as he swung at the enemy directly below him. Mundus was hammered straight back down to the Earth, leaving a 20 foot wide crater where he landed in the street. A yellow scooter zoomed down the street, carrying a biker chick Dante had been told was called Haruko and the guy in green Cloud had mentioned, straight at the group. The Doctor ran up to Dante alongside Master Chief, who quickly sprinted towards the battle as the white armored soldiers began appearing as well. _The party is finally getting started and I can barely move, great._ The Doctor stopped next to Dante and was looking him over. Dante reached out a hand to grab The Doctor's arm.

"Doctor? You said there was another guy called Boba Fett- he's not here is he?" The Doctor quickly nodded in understanding and called out to the keyblade warrior.

"Sora!" Sora turned and ran back to them. "Listen to me, you see this girl?" The Doctor held out the information nexus to Sora. On it a girl in a school uniform was flipping a coin. "They're here for her, they want her on their side. Her name is Misaka Mikoto, also known as 'The Railgun'. Find her, save her." Sora nodded, he ran off towards the rest of the city. The Doctor turned to look at Dante, "I hope he's not too late, I don't think these guys will take 'no' for an answer." Mundus erupted from his temporary refuge in the street while Dante gingerly climbed to his feet. Both sides surged towards one another to continue the fight.

* * *

**Misaka Mikoto**

Misaka Mikoto was getting tired. She'd finally found the perfect Gekota watch and was about to buy it when aliens started attacking Academy City. She had gone to the roof of the mall and begun firing her railgun at any large target she could find, but it just wasn't enough. Even as she knocked another mech out of the fight- most of the city was burning or being blown up. Tears fell from her face freely, falling a brief distance before the heat from the flames evaporated them. _I was the ace, I was the one who's supposed to protect everyone- and I failed._ So many were dead or dying, how could this happen? She heard a cold voice speak from behind her.

"A bit heavy-handed Vader, was this called for?"

"If all the worlds are doomed to be destroyed, I've only hastened the inevitable. Girl, turn around and face me."

Misaka turned to see two armored men. One was in a suit of all black and his breathing was labored, the other was more lightly armored and had a jetpack and a few guns; she noticed no weapons for the dark man. She was seething with anger at the two who had ordered the destruction of her city without a care. "You've killed thousands just because you could?!" Arcs of lightning were shooting from her forehead due to her unrestrained anger. "You're going to pay for what you did!"

The dark man's voice was distorted, but Misaka noticed he sounded amused, "Do you hate me young one? Are you sad that your world has been destroyed?"

"SHUT UP!" Misaka's anger was given form, firing bolts of lightning at Vader. The Sith Lord raised his hands and blocked her attacks. She didn't care, she threw more electricity, and then some more. Vader simply deflected each bolt with his hands. He extended a hand towards her, as though he were asking her to stop. Instead, Misaka felt a push shove her off the building, she managed to catch a hold of the edge of the roof. Below her, flames raged over destroyed vehicles from both Academy City and some enemy ships. Vader walked forwards until he stood directly above her, he held out his hand as though to help her up.

"We can use your hatred girl, you can make your own world however you want if you side with us. You can change anything, anyone- your fantasy can be made reality. Take my hand and join us- or die. The choice is yours."


	5. Chapter 5 Don't Be Afraid

_Episode 5 "Don't Be Afraid"_

_"Stop lying to yourself- and try once more!" _\- Misaka Mikoto

**Misaka Mikoto**

Misaka Mikoto clung to the edge of the mall's roof, helpless, even as the Sith Lord known as Darth Vader stood over her demanding her allegiance. _No, I won't be used- never again!_

She shouted her defiance at the arrogant man who'd destroyed her city, "I'll never join your side! You and everyone allied with you can go to hell!" Vader withdrew his outstretched hand.

"As you wish little girl, time to die." Unexpectedly, Boba Fett spoke.

"Vader, this is your fault, we could've tried a dozen different ways to recruit her but you just wanted to blow up her city to make a point." Vader turned to face the bounty hunter. Misaka used this distraction to try to pull herself back onto the roof.

"Fett, I have little patience for your backbone at the moment. Our orders were very clear, convince the girl to join us or kill her. In either case the city was going to be destroyed- either to ensure she left her past behind or as a lesson for those who stand against us." _Everyone died just so he could make a point?! _Misaka drew her last token out of her pocket and aimed at the dark figure, she focused her power into her finger and fired her railgun straight into Vader's back. Or she would have, had Vader not sensed her intentions and brought a laser sword out to counter the blow- Vader actually staggered backwards from the hit but was otherwise unharmed. Misaka refused to give in to her fear. _If electricity doesn't work, I'll try something else!_ Misaka drew upon her energy and created an iron-sand sword, slashing at the helmeted figure. He almost contemptuously blocked her blade, using his other fist to somehow push her again, back towards the edge.

"Make sure we're not disturbed mercenary, perhaps there is yet hope in her heart. I'll extinguish it and then we'll be on our way."

* * *

**Boba Fett**

_Damn it, Vader!_ Boba was not happy with his current circumstances. The rest of their immediate forces were engaged with The Doctor's allies. Boba could almost see the battle from the mall even though he was miles away, lasers, energy blasts, and explosions made it visible- if not directly observable. He could also still hear Mundus screaming. _That new form seems to have lessened his control a bit._ Vader had instructed most of the Imperial units to withdraw once the city was destroyed- only a token force was still fighting. A token force that was likely to lose very soon. _And now Vader wants to duel a little girl? We don't have time for this!_ Boba suddenly recieved a message from Haruko via comlink.

"Hey Boba-kun. I'm taking off for now, I've got something else to do while you guys play with The Doctor. Just so you know they'll probably be finished beating up the cannon fodder in a few minutes so you and Vader should get going. Bye." _I hate that woman._ Boba strode towards Vader, intending to warn him that they needed to leave.

He never got the chance, a tremendous blast of energy struck from his left- hurling him far off the building and out over the city street. Boba activated his jetpack, furiously regaining altitude as he looked for the source of the attack. An armored form he was not familiar with was running along the roofs of nearby buildings, the man's armor was orange and his right arm ended in some sort of cannon. Fett quickly drew his EE-3 rifle and fired a triple-burst in his enemy's direction. The shots glanced off his foe, his sensors caught a flash of some manner of shield. Fett followed up with a MM9 rocket to track his enemy and keep him occupied while he took a quick look at Vader's duel and how it was going. _More or less exactly as I thought it would._

The girl had been unable to break past Vader's defense and was even now locked down by Vader's Force Choke. Soon she would be dead and they could leave. Boba realized he'd taken his attention off of his new nemesis for a second too long when an energy whip curled around his torso, the other end connected to the orange man's arm. _Better hang on tight then._ He commanded his jetpack to use its full power to ascend higher, intending to pull his opponent upwards before dragging them through some flames or maybe a building. His enemy evidently had other plans, hauling on the whip with far greater force than Boba had anticipated, hurling him down to street level. Shaking off the impact, Boba keyed an order to the Slave 1. _No more half measures. _

His ship had been hanging just above cloud-level for an emergency like this. It immediately flew into position to strafe the street Boba was on with its weapons. The structures had all taken significant damage during the assault, his ship delivered the coup de grace; every building on the street began to crumble and fall apart under the firepower Fett had directed at them. His assailant surprised him yet again, turning into a small ball and racing away through buildings even as Boba's ship opened fire. _Is it some sort of droid or alien? No human can change itself to lose so much mass._ The bounty hunter kept track of his quarry's movements, waiting for his moment to strike. The second the orange ball leaped from one falling building to the next, Boba fired his DXR disruptor rifle. The blast hit his target squarely in the center of its ball form. With a flash of energy the ball disintegrated into flaming pieces and a figure in a blue suit tumbled out of it. Recovering, his enemy flipped his long blond hair out of... her face? _A female?_

* * *

**Misaka Mikoto**

Misaka was beaten, physically and mentally. Vader had always been one step ahead of her in the fight, anticipating every trick, every attack Misaka could throw at him. _He knows what I'll do even before I do it._ Maybe if she hadn't been spamming her railgun all day she might have had a better chance against him, but there was just nothing left. Her iron sand lost form, returning back to nothingness. She fell to her knees as Vader stood over her, his very presence making her feel cold to her bones.

"Yield. Join us now, I tire of this game." Misaka felt the attack on her mind, it was nothing she hadn't dealt with before. She glared up at the Sith Lord. She would not cry, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction. She would go down as the Ace of Academy City- not some squalling child!

"Go die."

Vader shook his head in response, "Foolishness." He reached his hand out and Misaka felt herself rising into the air. Breathing was becoming harder, her lungs weren't getting enough oxygen. _He's choking me to death!_ Misaka twisted and turned, but she couldn't stop the force Vader was applying; her hands encountered nothing when they reached her throat. Her vision was growing dim, darkness was edging into her sight. Her arms could no longer reach upwards, instead they fell to hang limply at her side. In her last moments Misaka saw an enemy ship fly overhead, unleashing devastation on the street to collapse what few buildings still stood. _Stop, just stop it, no more fighting, go away..._ Misaka never even felt Vader toss her body off the roof as the rest of the city crumbled into ruins.

* * *

**Sora**

_NO!_ Sora saw Vader throw Misaka off the building from the end of the street. He desperately tapped into his speed, leaping from building to building. Explosions were going off all around him and structures were crumbling into pieces both large and small, but Sora only had eyes for his target. Reaching the end of the falling buildings, Sora leaped into the air, catching Misaka. Her limp body held within his arms, Sora landed on the wall of the complex she had been thrown off of, he quickly used his momentum to leap upwards and onto the roof.

"Hey, Misaka? Are you okay? Misaka!" Sora tried to wake her, but she wasn't moving. She'd probably been hurt in her fight. _No problem, time for magic!_ Sora summoned his keyblade and pointed it at her. "Heal!" A cascade of green light bathed Misaka, she suddenly gasped and began coughing. Sora breathed out a sigh of relief even as he felt his magical energy run dry. _I made it in time, if I'd been even a second slower she probably would've died._

Sora heard a mechanical voice, "What manner of creature are you?" Sora turned to face the man who had attacked Misaka. An armored man stood before him, cape billowing in the wind. "You are either very brave or very foolish to step between a Sith Lord and his foe. Draw your weapon boy, I must depart from this shattered world soon, and I'm going to make sure she stays dead this time. I sensed your power leave you a moment ago- you will not be pulling that trick twice."

Sora pointed his keyblade at Vader, "Leave her alone, or you're dealing with me."

The Sith Lord walked towards Sora, activating his lightsaber to strike first. "I do not take orders from children." Sora caught the blow on his keyblade, surprised at his strength. _He's stronger than a normal person!_ Vader came at Sora again, and again, going on the offense and trying to force Sora backwards through repeated heavy blows. But Sora would give no ground, he blocked attack after attack, refusing to let the Sith Lord get any closer to Misaka. Vader tried to throw Sora off using his force powers but Sora quickly circled behind him as a large chunk of roof was destroyed by the mental attack. Sora struck Vader from behind, the blow hurling the Sith Lord into the air, comically waving his arms as he flew with no control over his flight. A beam of white light came from the sky, Sora caught a glimpse of the ship he had encountered earlier flying within the beam before it vanished, along with Vader. Sora quickly returned to Misaka, who had stopped coughing. _Please be okay, please._

Misaka began to stir, she opened her eyes to see Sora staring at her. For some reason, her face turned really red. Sora was confused until he noticed he was leaning over her as she was laying flat on the roof. _Oops._ Blushing, Sora immediately backed off to give Misaka room to sit up. She did so, gingerly massaging her throat as she looked at him.

* * *

**Misaka Mikoto**

_Oh great, saved by a weird boy I've never seen before._ Misaka felt her body becoming less sore by the second, his healing power was pretty effective. Clearing her throat, Misaka tried to thank her new ally. She found it unexpectedly difficult, even though her injuries were mostly gone. _Come on Misaka, you can do it, just thank him already. _"Th- th- th- thank you!" she almost shouted straight into his face. He laughed, causing Miska's face to grow even hotter. _He has a nice laugh. _For some reason, just being around him was making her fear and sorrow seem more distant- the feelings were all still there, but they seemed... safer somehow.

He held out a hand to help Misaka to her feet, "I'm here to help you, the name's Sora." Misaka scowled before taking his hand. She stumbled a bit as she stood, her strength still had not fully returned from her battle. She turned to look at Sora. "What's going on? You're not from around here- neither were those two. You showed up just when I needed help, you were looking for me."

Sora nodded his head in response, "I'm from another world," _An alien? But he looks so normal. _"I came here with a group of heroes. Apparently there's some sort of bad guy who wants to destroy everything in 'Creation'." He stared at the remains of Academy City, Misaka was surprised to see tears forming around his eyes. "I'm... sorry this happened to you. My home was destroyed once too, but I managed to get it back, just the way it was. The Doctor says we can do that again, for all of the worlds." _Really? It sounds too good to be true- huh?_ Misaka reached towards her face, surprised at what she felt there- or the lack thereof. For the first time since the attack had started, she wasn't crying. As she lowered her hand she saw something near the bottom of the mall.

"Sora, there's a person down there! Do you see her, she's wearing a blue jumpsuit?" Misaka pointed to the body, "I think she was fighting that other guy. We need to get to her!" She turned to the stairway she had used to get onto the roof, only to see it was on fire. Misaka was simultaneously surprised and horrified to have Sora pick her up in his arms. "B- baka- what are you doing?!" _Why is he picking me up? I'm weak- not an invalid!_ "Put me down!"

Sora just grinned at her, "Sorry, but we're taking the fast way." _Fast? What does he mean by- AHHHH!_ Misaka screamed as Sora simply hopped off the roof of what was formerly a five story mall. He touched lightly down on the ground, setting Misaka on her feet. Misaka shook in place for a moment, still in shock from both Sora picking her up and then his subsequent jump. She quickly overcame her shock and ran to the body of the woman she had spotted. Misaka was relieved to see her chest moving through the suit. Not only that, but she was wide awake and staring straight at Misaka and Sora.

"Hello children, I'm glad to see you're both safe." the woman grimaced as she stood up, she towered over both Sora and Misaka. "If only I were in better spirits. I intercepted a communication about the attack but I was too late to help stop it." she looked to Misaka, "I am sorry for your loss. I meant to help you, but that man had a potent weapon, it destroyed my shields and my armor. My name is Samus Aran, I am a bounty hunter." Samus turned to Sora, speaking to him directly, "Young man, I believe you have some sort of group leader? Bring me to him, if you would, please."

* * *

**Cloud Strife**

Cloud dispatched another Stormtrooper with a swing up his blade, cleaving him cleanly in half. He wasn't going to hold back against people who took innocent lives. He looked around to see that the battle had subsided into nearly nothing, the enemy champions had all been spirited away by beams of light, leaving the troops to fend for themselves- and they were no threat to anyone present. He noticed a small light in a nearby pile of ash and walked towards it to investigate. He uncovered a phone, upon picking it up and opening it he noticed it was a picture he and Dante had just taken with some girls. _They were so happy, and then in seconds their entire world was turned upside down and destroyed._ A shadow loomed over Cloud, he looked up to see The Doctor staring down at the phone too. The Doctor looked very sad and old, a sharp contrast to his normal, more cheerful demeanor.

"It never gets any easier," The Doctor nodded at the phone Cloud was holding, "living while those around you die- moving on while others stay where they were; but it does become more bearable when you have people around you who care about you."

Cloud nodded, promising himself to remember the little girls who had wanted a picture taken. Their faces were still imprinted onto his mind, the one had flowers tucked into her hair and was somewhat shy while her friend had been much more loud and eager to talk. _I can't ignore Sora anymore, just because he knows a different version of me doesn't mean anything._ Cloud noticed Sora emerge from behind some rubble- walking towards them now with a cocky look on his face, arms crossed behind his head, carefree as he could be. Behind him came the girl The Doctor had said they were searching for, Mikasa, as well as an older woman in a skintight blue suit that left very little to the imagination. Cloud made a note to not mention that to Tifa when he told this part of the story. He raised his hand, "Sora!'

Sora looked startled by Cloud acknowledging him, but happily waved backwards. "Hey Cloud! Hey Doctor! I found her!" The Doctor strode forward quickly, taking out his screwdriver and waving it over the new arrivals and firing a barrage of words at them.

"You look pretty beat up- are you okay? Were you hurt? We're here to help. Do you have biscuits?" Mikasa was clearly unprepared for someone like The Doctor; her face had blanked out and she looked a little dazed. Her gaze drifted over to Cloud and suddenly regained focus. She stormed past The Doctor without a word and stood in front of Cloud.

"Hey, spikey, where are the two girls who took a picture with you earlier?" Cloud looked at the ground before raising his gaze to look her in the eyes. He could see she already knew the truth- she was not asking to know the answer, she was asking to confirm what she believed.

"They ran into that building over there, a bomb hit it and the whole thing came down on top of them." Misaka nodded her head after hearing this. Tears shone in her eyes- though she brushed them away before looking back up at Cloud.

"There's nothing stopping this from happening again to other worlds is there? Nothing but us?" Cloud sensed a wisdom inside the girl that he wouldn't have expected from someone of that age; she was not fueled by vengeance or rage- she wanted to protect others.

"I'm sure some worlds have strong enough forces to repel them; my world was holding off against the assault that was being leveled against us." The words rang hollow, they both knew that for as many worlds there were that could withstand such an attack, there would be another that could not. Cloud held out the hand that had the cell phone in it, Misaka took it from him. Cloud could feel her trembling through his gloves; he could practically see the emotions she was trying to supress. Surprisingly, Sora walked up and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay, don't be afraid; it's not wrong to cry." Those words appeared to break the dam; in the ruins of her city, surrounded by death, Misaka wept for what she had lost.

* * *

_Sorry for the silence for so long, some of the characters I want in this required more research than others; others are still ongoing so I needed to find a good place for the series to take place. Should be more regular uploads now._


	6. Chapter 6 This Will be the Day

_Episode 6 "This Will be the Day"_

_"I wanted to be just like those heroes ... Someone who fought for what was right, and protected people who couldn't protect themselves!" _\- Ruby Rose

**Ruby Rose**

Ruby Rose was sick, and she was not happy about it; her friends had all gone off to a party and she had been told to stay at Beacon Academy and rest until she was better. There had been bribery involved, she was owed some of the best strawberries money could buy for cooperating, but she regretted her decision a bit. Everyone else was having fun while she was sitting on the roof of her dorm by herself, reading a book and wrapped in a blanket. It was a nice and peaceful night, the sky was clear and the temperature was only slightly cool. The moon shone brightly and there was hardly any wind at all. _Perfect weather for reading a book._ Ruby thought to herself as she turned the page, engrossed in her story about huntresses and monsters.

That thought changed when a giant beam of light landed right in front of her. The light wasn't even that bad really, it was the shrieking that accompanied it- and the people that flew out of it and crashed into Ruby.

Ruby immediately jumped up, adrenline making her eager and roaring for a fight. Some of the excess energy manifested in rapid-fire speech. "You wanna fight? Are you aliens? Please be aliens! I've never met an alien! I'm sick! You're... hurt?" Her attention faded as she realized the people in front of her were actually injured and moving slowly. A boy with white hair crawled over to the edge of the roof and vomited off of it. _Ewww. _The other, older, boy was moving slower, not yet having stood up. Ruby briefly berated herself for leaving Crescent Rose back in her room. The boy with white hair made his presence more known very suddenly and loudly.

"What the hell Hei?! You didn't mention jumping through those hurt like that!" The older boy, he was dressed all in black, took a long time before responding.

"If I had, would you have jumped?" The boy with white hair started swearing under his breath- apparently none of them had noticed Ruby yet. _Well that's kind of rude!_ Ruby was distracted by the 3rd person, a young girl near Ruby's age, with pigtails, moaning while curled up in a ball. Ruby immediately ran to her while the one boy yelled at the other.

"Hey, are you okay?" Ruby managed to restrain herself from shaking the new girl too hard. "What happened? Who are you?"

"I think she's in shock." The older boy, Hei, had finally gained his feet and walked over to Ruby. A monster was attacking the city she lived in and," Hei's feet cut out out from under him and he fell onto his arms, "then we went through one of those gates." Ruby noticed the white haired boy had walked over and was holding the girl in his arms protectively.

"My name is Soul, this is Maka; we're... not exactly sure what's going on right now." Soul wavered but managed not to fall over, he shook his head back and forth like he was trying to clear it. "Holy shit Hei, you went through that _twice_?"

Hei was on his side, breathing hard, "Three times."

Ruby interjected into the conversation, "Here, bring her to my room, we can talk there. My team won't be back for hours." _This is either really cool or really bad._ Collecting her blanket and book before leading the way inside, Ruby cracked open the door and looked both ways before motioning the new people to follow her. She had a suspicion that if anyone noticed people from another world were showing up- they wouldn't let her hang out with them anymore. Ruby was very curious about other worlds and wanted to know more about them.

Luckily, they encountered nobody on the way to the room Ruby shared with Yang, Weiss, and Blake. Ruby quickly opened the door and shunted the newcomers into her room. She froze suddenly as she realized two guys were now alone in the room with her but brushed it off quickly. The one with white hair, Soul, spoke to her as Hei looked around the room.

"Maka's really cold, and I can't get through to her. Do you have spare blankets or anything?"

Ruby pointed to her bed, "She can sleep there. It's my bed- I don't mind." Ruby picked up a few books she had lying on the bed and put them onto a shelf.

"Thank you." Soul carried Maka over to the bed and laid her down before covering her up with Ruby's blankets.

Ruby turned to face Hei. "Right, she's safe, she's warm, and she's not moving- talk."

The older boy looked her right in the eyes for the first time since he had showed up- Ruby was slightly unnerved by the emptiness she saw in them, but did her best not to show it as he spoke to her. "Those lights are teleporting people and creatures between different worlds. Maka and Soul attacked me on sight when I showed up in their city, then something destroyed their academy and we came here."

Ruby looked at the sleeping Maka and addressed Soul, "You're academy students too? Maybe we should go talk to my headmaster? He might be able to help."

Soul responded in a dry tone, "You know, the last time we said that, a giant dinosaur blew up our school." Ruby gulped, she hadn't just jinxed Beacon Academy had she?

* * *

**Edward Elric**

"Al, we have the worst luck." Edward Elric spoke to his younger brother as they walked through an unfamiliar city. "I mean, first the sandstorm, then a rockslide, then we saw that bright light- and now we're in a city I certainly don't recognzie."

A towering suit of armor walked along behind Edward, speaking with a child's voice. "I don't think we're in Central anymore Ed."

Ed pulled his red coat tighter around his shoulders as he looked around, they were near some sort of dock- though it was deserted at night. "All we need to do is find a hotel and ask for directions. Come on." In the distance a tower surrounded by green lights poked above the clouds. They walked in silence for some time, Ed's steps quietly tapping down in the alleys while Al's stomps echoed down entire streets. _I get that it's night, but where is everyone?_ "Hey Al?"

Edward's younger brother responded quitely, "Yes Ed?"

"When that light hit you- did you feel... weak?"

"Ye- yeah, I felt like I was dying again."

Edward slowed to a stop before raising his hand to his chin in thought, "Whatever that beam of light was, it caused us both pain to travel through it. That means whatever it was, it wasn't affecting us on a physical level- you don't feel pain anymore and there's not a mark on either of us to show for us being hurt." Ed held out his hand and noticed something, holding out his automail arm as well for comparison. _What the hell?_ Winry took special care to make sure Ed's automail arm was just as long as his regular arm- to help for balance and because that was just generally much better than being lopsided. But now his normal arm was longer than his automail arm- meaning the trip had either shrunk the automail or- "AL- I GREW!" Ed turned excitedly to his younger brother then paused. Al was not normally that quiet, and he was standing entirely still- like he couldn't move. "Al?" Ed noticed something wrong, Al's eyes normally burned red- even before his eyes they were turning purple. "AL?!"

A women stepped from behind Alphonse, she wore purple cothing- or at least, her clothes were purple. "Wearing" was not the correct word to describe her outfit; it was so revealing Ed immediately lifted his hand to his face in fear of a nosebleed. The woman brushed silver hair out of her eyes with her arm before she spoke to Edward.

"What's all this commotion about?" her voice hinted at nobility, though her outfit certainly did not, "I've merely been having a chat with your brother here. That's an interesting seal he has-"

Edward interrupted her, "What did you do to him?"

The woman adopted a shocked expression, "I didn't do anything to him? Tell him dearie- aren't you fine?"

Alphonse responded, "Yes- Edward I'm fine."

"I don't believe you!" Ed clapped his hands together to transmute his automail arm into a blade. He pointed the newly formed short sword at the purple stranger, "Al, come over here-"

"No dearie," the woman placed a hand on Al's arm, Edward noticed it was covered in armor, "you'll stay with me, right?"

"Yes Ma'am." Alphonse didn't sound upset in the slightest. Edward began to panic, something was very wrong with his brother.

"Alphonse! Get away from that old tart! She's doing something to you!" All humor vanished from the woman's eyes in an instant. She walked past Alphonse, drawing a single sword in her unarmored hand.

"You're in need of some discipline- I'll teach you how to behave!"

Ed grinned and placed his palms together, "Give it your best shot grandma."

The woman planted her feet in front of Alphonse, some 20 meters away from Edward, apparently waiting for Ed to make a move. "My name is Ivy Valentine, remember that when you die, little boy."

_BITCH!_ "I'LL SHOW YOU SHORT!" Ed immediately slapped the ground with both hands, causing a series of spikes to travel towards Ivy. She simply stepped backwards behind Alphonse.

"Darling, do something about those please?" Alphonse obeyed the command, clapping his hands and stopping Edward's spikes with his own wall of stone. Ed took the opportunity to create a pillar of rock to hurl him over the wall, straight past his brother and at Ivy, blade hand extended. He was suddenly struck across his automail arm, hurling him sideways and into a nearby fountain down the street.

Sputtering and swearing, Edward looked up to see Ivy lash out at him with her sword- which had elongated into a long whip. He ducked below the attack and clapped his hands to transmute the stone and pipes in the fountain into a gun. He rode his creation into the air with a maniacal grin.

"Drink this!" the gun fired a torrent of water at Ivy, knocking her backwards and soaking her. Ed triumphantly sprinted towards her, eager to disarm her and make her return Al to normal. He never even saw what hit him. One moment he was running with no issues, the next he found himself flying through the air. He caught a glimpse of her whip-sword vanishing back into the earth before he slammed into the ground, hard.

Before he could recover he felt something sieze around his ankle and lift him into the air- it was her whip again! Ed struggled to free his leg but he couldn't do it. Helpless, he looked down at Ivy and Alphonse. Ivy kept her one arm straight up to continue holding Ed as she used her other to wipe her wet hair off of her face. She radiated fury as water trickled off of her drenched clothing. She kept a calm tone as she addressed Ed.

"I noticed you need to touch the things you change- what can you do with air?" Ed immediately lunged to reach his leg, intending to cut the whip with his blade and continue the fight; but Ivy merely smashed him into the road before picking him up again. Ed didn't give up, attempting the manuever again, with similar results. And again. And again. He eventually gave up, suspended in the air. _She's holding all the cards; I need to wait for an opportunity._

"Would you like some more?" Ivy gloated, though she was beginning to show strain from holding Ed in the air. "Your brother is entirely safe and happy with me, aren't you dear?"

"Yeah," Alphonse chimed up, "I don't know what your problem is Ed!" _The worst part is that he doesn't even sound like he's being forced._

"See? He doesn't mind at all. Now dear, do be kind and kill him for me."

"No." For the first time, Alphonse actually sounded strained, "I'm not going to kill Edward."

Ivy glared at Al, her arm noticably starting to shake. "Dearie our ride is coming soon and he's not going to be as helpful to us as you are. If we don't kill him he'll chase us down and attack me again- is that what you want?"

"No..." Alphonse clapped his hands together, "Sorry Ed, but I can't let you hurt her." Alphonse touched the ground and Ed barely had time to react before his vision went black.

* * *

**Ruby Rose**

Ruby was nervously pacing back and forth across her room. _They're going to be back soon- there's aliens in my room, one in my bed, I didn't tell anyone and nothing bad has happened._ As she paced in front of a window Ruby saw a beam of light strike the ground far out into Vale- near the docks by the looks of it. "Hey Hei, there's another light!"

Hei was at the window in an instant, Ruby was startled by how quickly he had appeared- he was so quiet! Ruby started when she realized Hei was outright not going to stop- he simply jumped out the window and ran off into the night.

"Hei!" Soul shouted from the bed next to Maka, "Dumbass! He's going off by himself! Maka!" Soul began shaking Maka, "You've got to snap out of it- you're stronger than this Maka!" Ruby walked over to Soul, feeling sorry she couldn't help Maka.

"Why won't she wake up?"

Soul shook his head in response, "She's hiding from reality, normally our souls are linked and I can talk to her easily- but it's harder now." Soul's eyes narrowed, "But I need her awake, she can't stay like this. If she's going to keep me out like that then-" Soul suddenly threw the covers off of Maka, "I'm going to snap her out of it a different way!"

The tone of his voice worried Ruby, "Whaaaaaat are you gonna do?"

Soul immediately stood Maka upright and lifted her skirt up, "Hey Ruby, what color are her pant-".

"MAKA CHOP!" **Thud**. Ruby's eyes bugged out of her skull as Maka struck Soul with a book, leaving a genuine dent in his head. "Soul you ass! Can't I at least grieve for our dead friends?! Are you really so selfish or stupid!" Maka suddenly noticed Ruby staring at her. "Oh, hello, my name is Maka Albarn."

"Ruby Rose," Ruby replied with a smile, "I'm glad you woke up- I was really looking forward to talking to you." she glanced down at Soul, who was holding his head and massaging the dent out of it. "Soul was really worried about you, and Hei wasn't very talkative."

Maka looked around the room, "Where is Hei?"

Ruby pointed out the window, "He saw another beam of light and ran off to look at it."

Soul stood up, apparently recovered from Maka's chop. "We need to go after him, he's admitted to killing innocent people and his soul doesn't look normal to Maka; we're not entirely sure he's a good guy."

Ruby looked out the window at the column of light that hadn't vanished as quickly as the previous one that brought her new friends. "But he's got a big head start..."

"No worries." Maka smiled at Ruby, "We've got Soul."

Ruby was confused by that statement, "What does Soul do?" Maka smiled and tapped Soul in the shoulder, in a flash of light Soul faded from sight and transformed into a metal scythe with a red and black blade. "COOOOOOL!"

Maka's smile grew, apparently Ruby's enthusiasm was working on her, "He's got other tricks too."

Ruby was ectstatic, she changed with lightning speed into her normal clothes and packed up her Crescent Rose. "What else can he do?"

"Hey! I'm still here!" Soul angrily butted in, eager to remind Ruby he was still a person, he didn't like how she was looking at him in weapon-form.

Maka walked over to the window and held her hand out to Ruby, "I'll show you, let's go." Ruby hesitated for an instant but then eagerly took Makas hand- she wasn't sure what to expect. "Hang on tight!"

"Why?" Maka suddenly leapt out the window, pulling Ruby along with her. Soul's scythe-form sprouted a set of wings and Maka landed on him smoothly, keeping Ruby with her as well. Ruby was ecstatic, "Ohmygodthat'ssosweetSoulcangrowwings!"

"It's a cool ability for a cool guy." Soul spoke with smug authority.

"How fast can he go? How high can he go?" Ruby's enthusiasm for weapons was legendary among Beacon Academy for a reason.

"Slower now, he's not used to carrying two people. We should be able to catch Hei in no time." Maka had gone from her coma to a relatively happy girl in a very short period of time- Ruby was impressed with the strength of her spirit.

"Hey Maka?"

"Yes Ruby?"

"Do you like to read?" Soul groaned loudly as the two scythe-users began to talk about the books they enjoyed.

* * *

**Ruby Rose**

A few short minutes of flight later (Soul had felt like it was an eternity), the three of them reached the area they had been headed towards, though the column of light had vanished before they arrived. Ruby scanned the surroundings and saw Hei was still around, he was checking out a large spire of stone shaped like a fist that was near a fountain. Ruby pointed it out to Maka.

"Maka- Hei's still here. He's by that rock."

Maka nodded in response, "Let's go Soul."

The three landed, Soul returning to his human form and placing his hands in his pockets as they walked towards the aloof Hei. As they approached Ruby grew nervous, the ground was cracked and shattered in places, and that fist hadn't been there before either. Soul addressed Hei first, "Hey Hei, did you do this?"

Hei shook his head, "No, I'm guessing whoever is responsible for this left through that portal." Hei turned to look directly at Ruby, "Did someone from your world do this?"

Ruby thought quickly through the various types of Dust and the fighters she knew at Beacon Academy. "Not that I know of." Maka walked towards the fist slowly, staring at it intently. She suddenly spoke up.

"Hey, there's someone in there."

Ruby immediately ran to Maka's side, leaving a trail of rose petals behind her that Soul swatted away in annoyance. "Really? How can you tell?"

"I can detect souls, there's a person trapped in there. Soul come here, let's get him out." Soul obliged and transformed into his scythe-form.

Ruby took a step back quickly, eager to see Soul in action. Maka stood still for a moment with her eyes closed. Ruby thought she wasn't going to move at all before Maka made a single slash at blinding speed. Ruby was shocked to see half of the stone first slide off- sliced clean through. "Awesome!" A small boy toppled out of the fist, he wore a red coat and had long blond hair. He was also really mad.

"WHERE IS THAT BITCH?!" the boy looked around quickly before attempting to run off, he suddenly tripped as Hei threw a wire in his direction, wrapping up his legs. Instead of fighting, the boy just sighed from the ground. "Okay, what do you want?"

"Answers," Hei told him, "I have questions for you." The red boy rolled over and sat up. On closer inspection, he looked really beat; cuts and bruises marked his face.

"I don't have answers. I have a beam of white light that ages you and teleports you to another place and I have an old hag who kidnapped my younger brother after brainwashing him. That's what I've got- happy?"

Ruby broke in, "That definitely sounds like a job for the police, we need to talk to the authorities about you guys- I'm just a Huntress-in-training, this sounds like a bigger problem."

Maka had a question of her own, "Wait- that light ages you?" The boy nodded in response.

"Yeah, I grew a little, if I had to guess I'd say the light makes you undergo rapid aging while you're in it. That would explain why it hurts- your body isn't meant to age at a faster rate than it already does. I wonder if it's a weapon?" Apparently deciding that he didn't have to run, the boy slowly untied his ankle from Hei's wire before standing up. "The name's Edward Elric, I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist from Central and I'd appreciate your help in finding a... woman who called herself Ivy Valentine. Do any of you know her?"

Everyone voiced a variant of 'no'. They all turned and looked at Hei, he looked unhappy with the attention. "What?"

Ruby spoke, "Well, you're the only adult here- I guess we sort of want a little guidance?"It was true, Hei was the only one out of all of them, including Edward, that looked to be over 20 years old.

Hei placed a hand over his face, "I'm as clueless as the rest of you. If there really are portals opening up between the worlds- that woman could have nothing to do with anyone here."

"No." Edward spoke up, "She knew Alphonse- she specifically said she needed him and not me. Information about State Alchemists isn't easy to find- and I know I'd remember seeing her aroud. And she said she had a ride coming too- there must be something more than chance going on here."

Hei's face was unreadable, "It's possible, we don't have enough information to be sure of anything." Ed started to speak but Hei held up a hand in a 'hold on' gesture. "We should go to the authorities of this world and see if they can discover anything about those lights. Your brother likely isn't in this world anymore, meaning we can't get to him without help."

Edward nodded in defeat, "Yeah I know, I heard that screaming noise those lights make. I bet that's the air being sucked into other dimensions and aged air replacing it."

Ruby shuddered, _That light makes you older and teleports you to another dimension? That's gross. Wait._ Ruby cocked her head to the side, listening. "Does anyone hear that?"

"Yes," Soul immediately turned into his weapon form and landed in Maka's hand, "I can hear it- be prepared for anything."

Everyone fell into their old routines- Maka and Soul were partnered up, Hei had a black knife in his hand and Edward clapped his hands and was waiting patiently. Ruby unfolded her Crescent Rose and prepared herself for combat. _And to think, I felt so sick earlier tonight- guess the stress burned it off._

The shrieking kept building up in intensity- though no light had yet appeared. Ruby's eyes were starting to water, "Where is it?"

Soul yelled, "MOVE!" Ruby reacted instantly, using her semblance to leap away at top speed- and not a moment too soon as the beam of light fell where the four of them had previously stood back-to-back. Ruby had been the only one fast enough to evade it entirely though, Hei and Edward had both been grabbed already and Soul had his wings out but wasn't able to make headway against the pull. Soul was flung away from Maka, leaving Maka floating just inside of the force that was tearing everyone away. Ruby acted without thinking, running forward and grabbing Maka's hand in an attempt to pull her out of the beam- but the light would not be denied. Ruby's ears filled with screams as she was taken alongside Maka and the light filled her eyes.

_Looks like I'm not going to be there when sis gets back..._


	7. Chapter 7 Snow Fairy

_Episode 7 "Snow Fairy"_

_" I chose this life. I know what I'm doing. And on any given day, I could stop doing it. Today, however, isn't that day. And tomorrow won't be either." _\- Batman

Lucy finished chugging the entire sweet tea Erza had dared her to drink, slamming the empty cup down in victory.

"Told you I could do it!."

"That was only the first hurdle in my Ultra Sweet Tea Challenge. You'll have to prepare for nine more."

Lucy pouted, "You made that up!" Erza was in bartender clothing, serving out drinks to the rest of the Fairy Tail Guild as the party kept going in full swing. Across the room Lucy could see Natsu and Gray having it out about something or another- Gray had already taken his shirt off. Lucy noticed that Erza had lined up nine more cups for her.

"Not at all, this has always been the Ultimate Sweet Tea Challenge."

"You changed the name! You're making this up as you go!" Lucy pointed an accusing finger at Erza- who remained stone-faced.

"You accepted a challenge that doesn't exist- of course it's a work in progress."

Lucy scowled before she felt someone tugging at her arm, she looked down to see a short man in a delivery outfit. He was holding out a package and a sheet of paper. Lucy signed for it without thinking and the man vanished in a circle of magic. Lucy sat the package on the bar in front of her, puzzled.

"I wasn't expecting a package, I wonder what it is?"

Erza poked it with a champagne glass- "There's no address on it nor name."

Lucy drummed her hands on the table before reaching forward and opening her mail quickly to avoid indecision. Inside was a small metal box and a note. "Might as well read the note first." Lucy picked up the paper and read it aloud for the benefit of Erza.

_Greetings to you, my darling girl. You have never met me but I know you would appreciate my charms were you to do so. To that end, I send you the key to my heart in hopes that you could find it in yours to come find me and make me a happy man._

"What an odd message." Erza said.

Lucy was slightly more eloquent, "FAN MAIL- I have fan mail!" She opened the small metal box and found a key inside. "What? An actual key?" Lucy picked it up. It was a small white key with a red flower on it, otherwise unremarkable. Attached to it was a small card, 'Say my name.' _I don't know his name?_ Lucy looked back at the note before she noticed a tiny signature in the bottom left corner. She read it out loud while she held the key, "Joker?"

Suddenly the key exploded into a massive green mist- clouding Lucy's eyes and obscuring her vision. Lucy felt a hand grab her arm and then she felt like she was falling...

Erza quickly dispelled the mist with rapid waving of her hand. She wondered where Lucy had gone? She became distracted by several beams of light flying towards the guild hall. "Master? I think we have some new arrivals- I'll prepare drinks immediately!"

* * *

Lucy regained consciousness slowly. _What a headache._ She tried to reach her hands up to her head to massage the pain away but she couldn't reach upwards. _Huh?_ She opened her eyes to see an unfamiliar place- she was in front of a large window that overlooked a strange city. Rain was pattering against the window- making the city appear very dark and blurry, she could see lights in most of the buildings. Lucy could also see that her hands had been bound to either arm of the wheeled chair she was strapped to. _Remain calm, this is far from the first time you've been kidnapped._ Lucy martialed her energy and tried to open a celestial gate. Nothing happened. Lucy sighed, whoever kidnapped her had taken her keys.

"Ah you're awake my little dove- brilliant." Lucy's skin crawled as she slowly turned the chair she was in around until she could see her 'fan'. He was sitting with his feet up on a desk and his face was in shadow. She could only make out his suit- an odd shade of purple, and a flower on his lapel. A hand leaned out of the shadows, with her key ring hanging onto one gloved finger. "Although I confess, my love for you was more for the estate you hold rather than- BLEH." The figure stood up and knocked his chair over with a loud crash and started walking towards Lucy.

"I can't keep up this charade anymore, it's killing me!" Lucy was struck by something, she looked down to see a human heart lying on her lap. She screamed and twisted until it fell onto the floor. A flash of lightning lit up the room behind her- exposing the pale white face that stared back at her. "Jigs up!" The Joker laughed, it was like no laugh Lucy had ever heard- it was more than physical sound, it was awesome and dreadful- no sane person could laugh like that. Lucy was determined to not show her fear.

"Give me back my keys."

"Nope." The Joker walked around the room, swinging her keys around his finger., he adopted an Italian accent, "I'm afraid I was made an offer I couldn't refuse. He gave me what I needed to make it work- and boom! Shebang! Yowza!" each of the exclamations was followed by a clap of the hands.

A small beam of white light appeared next to the Joker, Lucy could hear a sort of whistling come through it. Joker stuck his hand into it and made sure she was watching as he dropped her keys into it.

"NOOOO!" Lucy screamed and wretched at her bonds, "Those are people! Don't you get it!?"

"Of course, I'm quite intelligent I'll have you know." The Joker removed his hand from the light, now holding a large metal chest. "Oomph, victory is heavier than I thought. No wonder Bats has that stick stuck up his posterior all the time." The Joker set the box on his desk before straightening his suit. "I'd best perform my civil duty and free him from that burden."

Lucy stomped her feet against the floor in anguish, "What's wrong with you?"

"Not a thing little girl." The Joker skipped over to a light and flicked it on, bathing Lucy is light and blinding her. "Not anything at all." He skipped around technology Lucy was unfamiliar with, flashing lights kept striking her in the face. After some time The Joker pressed a button and Lucy saw her image appear in a square behind the light. Joker walked towards her and entered the square. He smoothed back his hair and gave the camera three fingers, followed by two, then one. _Must be some sort of magic._ Lucy thought while she frantically tried to move her wrists enough to get at her ropes. At that moment, she was fully capable of murdering The Joker if she could get free.

"Hello Batsy- long time no see! I heard about that failure your little group of heroes had- very unfortunate. How many died? All of them right? HAHAHAHA." The Joker doubled over in laughter for a few seconds before regaining his composure. "But listen, since all that progress you had is gone- I figured you could use an old favorite." Joker stepped to the side and waved his arm dramatically at Lucy. "You know this one Batman, I've kidnapped a girl- I'll kill her if you don't find me in time- so do hurry up. TTFN." The lights turned off as The Joker let out a loud exhalation. "Whew! Showbiz is too much for me."

Lucy frowned at the lunatic, "Where did my keys go? You could at least tell me that."

The Joker put his feet back up on his desk before closing his eyes, "Welllll I could but let's be honest little girl- after I kill Bats you're not living much longer either; plus I just don't know."

Lucy felt the ropes give just a little bit, she kept moving her wrists back and forth- trying to get enough give for her hands to escape. The Joker slept on, at peace with the world. Lucy finally freed one hand and quickly moved to undo the other before the box on Joker's desk rang. She put her hand back as the Joker idly pressed a button.

"What is it?"

A voice came out of the box, "Sir, Johnny thought he saw something moving on the roof."

"Johnny? Damn, I had money on Tim getting taken out first." Joker got up out of his chair and started walking towards Lucy again.

"Sir? What does that mean sir?" The voice sounded a bit panicky.

"Oh nothing, see you Tim- you're probably going to be taken out any second now." The voice did not reply. Lucy took the opportunity to punch Joker in the face as hard as she could. He staggered backwards, surprise evident on his face before his smile returned.

"Oh little girl, that wasn't nice." Lucy attempted to swing again, but Joker caught her hand and spun her in place- almost as if dancing with her. The move ended with him on the chair and her over his knees. "Papa spank!"

CRASH- the window behind Joker shattered as a dark shape hurtled into the room, knocking Joker and Lucy over. Lucy got onto her hands and knees and looked to see a terrifying man standing in the room. His face was obscured by a black mask in the shape of a bat- and he wore dark armor with spikes coming out of the gauntlets complete with a cape. Joker had resumed his laughing.

"Hello Bats, nice to see you again!" Joker climbed to his feet and held his hands up in front of him. They were empty. "Wanna see a magic trick Bats?" An little green orb appeared in Joker's hand- it flashed and a surging stream of flame shot out of it at Batman, obscuring him from vision. When the flames cleared Batman could be seen perfectly intact behind his cloak- it had shielded him from the attack

Without a word, Batman rushed and hit Joker with a straight on punch to the face. Joker stumbled backwards, minus a tooth. Batman followed the punch with a kick, then another punch to Joker's gut. Joker staggered back and took out another gem- a flash of light traveled over Joker and he was fully healed- tooth and all. Joker started to laugh.

"I've got magic now Batman- nothing you can do about that!" Joker's laugh was cut off as Batman grabbed the back of Joker's suit and flung him out the window. Lucy heard Joker scream all the way down, followed by a 'thud' as he landed.

"Miss? Are you okay?" Batman was speaking to her but Lucy was preoccupied, swatting at the carpet where she had seen the light.

"Hang on, he put my keys into this light and I need to find them for- AH!" Batman had grabbed Lucy around the waist and was carrying her from the room at a frightening speed. "Let me go! I need to find them!"

"Your keys aren't here, now be quiet and come with me." Lucy complied. At the sudden end to her struggling, Batman placed her on the stairs and waited for her to nod at him before taking off again. They emerged onto the roof, where half a dozen men were sprawled out, some conscious, some not. Lucy spotted something lying on the roof.

"What's that?"

"Batwing, now get in." Batman clicked a button on his belt and a door opened in the machine in front of Lucy. She uneasily climbed in. _I'm not used to this, I like magic more._ Batman climbed into the seat more ot the front and the Batwing lifted into the air and took flight. They sat in silence for a few moments before Batman spoke again.

"You're from another world aren't you?"

Lucy was startled, "Yeah, is that so obvious?"

"Very. I'll explain what I know but it isn't much. I think the world is ending."

Lucy was confused, "Do you mean your world or mine?"

Batman turned to look at her, " I mean all of them." he turned to look back at the front of the ship. "My team couldn't take him down, but maybe in the other worlds someone else exists who can defeat him."

Lucy thought she saw a tear go down his face, she leaned forward but it vanished before she could be sure. "Who?"

Batman kept his gaze forwards as he drove through the city. "The Man in White."

* * *

_One week earlier..._

"Yo Bats, do we really ALL have to go deal with this guy?" Flash was running around Bruce in circles, his impatience making him act like an idiot. _Again. _ "Come on, he's not even _doing_ anything- he's just a guy walking along a highway and not paying attention to traffic; why do we have to get involved?"

"Because, Wally, we don't know anything about him. The call just said that the police thought he's strange and they're unwilling to approach him. He could be nothing or he could be something, I'd rather be prepared for nothing than underestimate something."

Flash ran over to Superman, "Did that make any sense to you?"

Superman placed a hand on Flash's shoulder to stop him from running around, annoying Batman was fun- but they had a job to do. "He's paranoid, but he has a point. Most of the time we have some idea of what we're dealing with- this time we've got nothing. Batman hates having nothing." _Of course I hate knowing nothing, you can't make a plan out of nothing._

Batman interupted the two, "Are we ready to move out? I want to get back before dawn." They had been called just shy of midnight about this new disturbance- something that no doubt contributed to Flash's sour mood.

After hearing various versions of "Yes" from the League, Batman started his motorcycle and led the way to the massive traffic jam and police lights in the distance. _The sooner we deal with him, the sooner we can get back to the Watchtower._

They arrived at the police barricade without incident. Batman noted traffic had piled up as the man was simply walking across the highway with no regard to anyone or anything- the time of night not quite managing to create a deserted highway. Wonderwoman flew up next to Batman.

"He's not walking like he's looking for a battle, there's no fighting posture at all."

"I'll go talk to him." Superman flew over the barricade and landed before walking up to the man. Batman took the time to analyze the man and figure out what he could about him. _Vacant expression, simple white robe, no regard for rules of society- maybe a monk? But there'd be record somewhere if that were the case..._

Superman had reached the man and was speaking to him, waving for the rest of the League to come forward. "Sir? Do you understand me? Can you tell me who you are and why you're here? Standing in the middle of the highway is making people nervous."

The man didn't answer. Batman took out a scanner and pointed it at the unknown person. He stared at the readings and became annoyed. _Is it broken?_ He pointed it at Flash and saw the device light up and present the expected information.

Flash immediately ran behind Batman to look over his shoulder. "What's wrong Bats?" Batman shrugged Flash off of his shoulder.

"My equipment isn't picking him up. So far as they're concerned, there's nothing there."

Hawkgirl spoke up, "Is he perhaps a ghost? Or an illusion?"

J'onn spoke up. "I can attempt to read his mind, perhaps he cannot communicate the way you do."

"Just be careful, I'd like to go one week without a global disaster." Green Lantern warned the Martian Manhunter as he placed his hand on the man's head. The man immediately responded, jerking his head away. _A reaction?_ But that was the extent of his movement, the man simply took a step away and then ceased moving.

"Don't worry, we just want to help you." Wonderwoman spoke to the man in a reassuring voice. The next time J'onn reached out to him- the man didn't move away.

Then J'onn started screaming. He held his head in his hands, twisting and writhing, changing between forms quickly. A nearby police officer fired a taser at the man, the discharge of electricity was heard and the man staggered before he turned and looked at the policeman. For the first time since they had arrived, Batman saw focus in the eyes of the man- or what should have been his eyes- there were no pupils there, they were pure white. The man raised his hand towards the officer almost as if he were waving.

And the Light of Entropy flew forth. A beam of nothingness, larger than the mouth of the Batcave- it slammed through the barricade, the force sending officers and vehicles flying through the air- cars rusted into scraps, concrete shattered and fell to pieces, people collapsed as skeletons and were dust before they hit the ground. The beam continued into the cars behind the barrier- going straight through the police officer and however many cars it reached before ending.

"You need to calm down!" John yelled as he struck at the enemy with a hammer forged of green light smashed into the man, knocking him down. He reshaped his construct into a cage, hoping to imprison the man.

Superman meanwhile was trying to stop J'onn, grabbing him firmy by the shoulders to get his attention. "J'onn? What's the matter? Tell me!" J'onn responded by reaching back and punching Superman, causing the man of steel to be launched backwards and through a nearby building before J'onn flew after him, still screaming.

Meanwhile, the man in white placed a hand onto the cage- causing the green light to flash white and return to John's ring. The light reached the Green Lantern- eclipsing him in white light before he turned into dust.

"NO!" Hawkgirl screamed with fury as she flew forwards and brought her mace across the back of the man's head. She held back not at all in her rage, and his head exploded into chunks of blood and bone. Hawkgirl was stunned, "No- I- I didn't mean to- I thought he'd be stronger!"

Even as his body fell the man suddenly reappeared behind Hawkgirl, grabbing her around the neck as she flew off into the air, struggling to throw him off. Wonderwoman flew upwards with them, easily keeping up.

"Let go of her right now!"

Hawkgirl accentuated Diana's command with a headbutt to crack the man across the bridge of the nose. Far below, Batman could only watch in horror. The man grabbed one of Hawkgirl's wings in either hand and placed his feet on her back as he spoke for the first time; the world seemed to pause as sound emerged from his mouth.

"Stronger?" Then he ripped Shayera's wings off. She screamed as she plummeted to the earth- streams of blood racing her to the ground. Flash caught her before she hit the ground.

"Flash, take her to the hospital, now!" Batman commanded in a voice that allowed no argument. Flash vanished from sight to reappear a second later.

"Done, now what do we do?" Both Batman and Flash flinched as Superman and Martian Manhunter's battle emerged from one building and carried them through others, causing a chain reaction of falling structures. People had been screaming before, but it reached a new height as skyscrapers began to crash into the ground.

High above, Wonderwoman lasso'd the enemy- using herself as a pivot, she quickly spun around before slamming him into the road. She flew down immediately and tied his hands behind his back while keeping him pinned to the ground. "Do you yield?!"

The man smiled. A shadow eclipsed the both of them as well as the general area. Alarms began going off on Batman's belt before he comprehended what happened- he could only stare in shock and call out. "DIANA!" Wonderwoman looked up just in time to see Justice League HQ directly above her before it impacted at the center of the highway, shattering the concrete and launching Batman and Flash into the air. Batman was clipped in the shoulder by a shard of concrete, his armor absorbed most of the hit but he still felt warmth that indicated it had drawn blood. He landed and rolled to his feet amidst the buckling ground.

"Barry!" Batman called out amidst the dust and debris.

"Here!" the hindrance to Batman's vision was blown away as Flash fanned his arm rapidly. Batman noted the unknown assailant was again standing still further down the road- away from Diana's still body- though he no longer wore a vacant expression. He was looking around at the screaming and devastation he had caused.

"We need to retreat!" _John's gone, Hawkgirl's almost certainly dead, Diana is down._ CRASH. _And J'onn and Superman are going to destroy half the city!_

"No, I've had enough of this guy Batman." Flash was ignoring him and running towards the enemy. He punched him once, then twice, the man could barely react. Flash ran faster and faster, running around the block to punch the man and then doing it again in the next second.

"Speed..." the man mumbled as he was relentlessly pummeled by Flash.

"That's right buddy," Flash chatted as he stepped it up, now running around the entire city between punches- buffeting the area with high winds, "How're those powers working for you slowpoke?" The man was flung along the road by Barry's latest punch, he slowly got to his feet to look at Flash cockily standing in front of him.

"Speed... Force?" The man's voice had a sort of echo-effect that made him seem further away than he was, Batman felt a jolt of fear go down his spine.

"BARRY GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

"Not until he pays for what he's done!" Flash began to strike the man in a rapid frenzy, going at higher and higher speeds and causing a shrieking sound to emerge from the air, but Batman heard the man's words all the same.

"Speed Force- no more." as the man stated this the pavement turned red around him and Barry vanished. Batman couldn't comprehend what had happened- and then it did. _He took away the Speed Force- he removed Barry's protection! He ran so fast he smeared himself along the ground!_ Batman ran to Diana's body and checked her pulse, fighting to not vomit as he walked over what had formerly been Flash. _She's still alive!_

CRASH. J'onn was slammed into the ground by Clark a final time, the impact causing cars and pieces of building in the area to briefly lift off the ground and then fall back. Superman turned and raced at the man. Before he reached him- the man looked at Batman and smiled.

Batman's vision turned white, with a gut-wrenching spin of confusion, pain, and nausea, Batman found himself back in his Batcave with Diana still in his arms. He quickly placed her against a wall and activated the Batcave computer to find the news. A reporter came onscreen amidst a background of the destruction of the Justice League HQ, the camera was shaking wildly and her voice was hard to hear over the howling winds.

"Officers near the scene reported Superman and the Man in White have both flown off into space mere moments after the Justice League Headquarters crashed into Metropolis. Shockwaves from the battle continue to bombard the city and- OH MY GOD!"

The camera panned skywards just in time for the moon to shatter into pieces.

* * *

_Present..._

"Oh no... I'm so sorry." Lucy told Batman. She looked out the window to see that there was indeed no moon in the sky."

"As if the loss of the Justice League wasn't bad enough, the Moon's destruction has caused unmatched amounts of devastation around the globe, and most of the people who can help deal with it are dead. I'm facing a villain greater than anything I've come across and my allies have been vanquished. I don't believe in coincidences, Lucy- that light means he's still out there. If Superman couldn't beat him-"

"You don't know that! He could still be alive!" Lucy tried to reassure the Dark Knight.

"He hasn't contacted me in the week since the battle. If he's alive, he's not able to help." _He's so cold._ Lucy realized. _It's probably what lets him do his job- dealing with people like The Joker all of the time would stretch anyone's mind out._ "My only concern right now is to get you to the Batcave and then go back for The Joker."

"But you threw him out a building?!" Lucy was terrified of the idea that The Joker wasn't lying dead on the ground.

"Whatever that little orb was gave him access to magic that I haven't seen before. I can't make any assumptions right now- magic doesn't play by the rules."

Suddenly The Joker's laugh reverberated through the Batwing, "HAAAAA-HAHAHAHAHA." Batman quickly drove downwards, no doubt trying to lose the signal by flying around buildings.

That was when the dragon appeared. Lucy had not seen it until it was there, as if it had been produced from thin air. It was larger than the Batwing by far- with fierce red eyes in a head surrounded by pale bone. It sent a flaring ball of blue fire at the Batwing. Batman yanked on the wheel, jerking the ship to the side as the blast raced past them and impacted a building- destroying several floors in the process. Joker's voice continued to fill the Batwing.

"See Batman? You're not the only one with toys anymore! How do you like mine? Again! Knock him from the sky!" The dragon obliged, firing at the Batwing again and again- each time the flares were narrowly avoided by Batman, at the cost of civilian lives.

Batman yelled to Lucy, "Just hold on tight!"

Lucy had covered her head with her hands in an attempt to protect herself from the jolts the blasts were giving the Batwing. "I wish I had my keys- I'd show that dragon!"

Joker was apparently able to hear the conversation from however he was hacking into the Batwing. "'Show that dragon?' This magnificent specimen is known as Bahamut SIN young lady! And people call me a monster- alas- alack! Still, I'm surprised Batso," another shockwave bashed into the ship as they evaded another fireball- the building it struck fell into the street below, "I would've thought you valued the lives of the people you swore to protect? It's my civil duty to stop a tyrant like you- and if it's a whooping you're wanting- a whooping shall you get!"

Lucy noticed a different sort of light shine from Bahamut SIN, The Joker was riding it and had another crystal in his hand. A lightning bolt sprang from the orb and struck the Batwing squarely, immediately filling the cockpit with alarms.

"Lucy- we're going down- hang on tight!" The Batwing slammed into the top of one building, momentum carrying it up and over and clear through the next one before coming to a shuddering halt on another roof. Batman immediately opened the door. "Come on!" The two of them leapt out, Lucy turned to see Bahamut flying right above them. The Joker dismounted, landing smoothly on the roof. He brushed his suit off before pointing at Batman.

"Mono-a-mono eh Batman? You have your toys, I have mine? What a heroic send-off, the climactic conclusion to our final battle! Oh I admit, I'll be bored without someone like you to torment, perhaps I'll track down that wayward Boy Wonder and teach him a thing or- EARK!" Batman has whipped out a boomerang, catching Joker right in the throat. Joker staggered and fell over. A flash of light surrounded him and he leaped back up completely unharmed. Batman raised his fists.

"I'll kill you as many times as I have to- there's too much at stake for me to let you live free."

Joker laughed, the sound drilling into Lucy's ears, "This stuff is fantastic, 'materia' I think it was called? No wonder you have so many gadgets Batshit, they're fun!" The Joker whipped out another materia and a flash of light spread over his body. Joker then beckoned Batman forward as if he were inviting him to dance.

Batman lunged forwards, kicking Joker square in the chest and knocking him back. He followed with an uppercut straight to Joker's jaw and then spun around, using his momentum to kick Joker face-first into a nearby metal door hard enough to dent it.

Then Joker laughed, he hadn't felt a thing. Batman went all-out, a flurry of attacks Lucy could barely follow- each one landing onto the Joker. Punches, kicks, a headbutt; Joker was being veritably flung around the roof by the power and speed of Batman's attacks- and the Joker laughed. Batman picked up a convenient 2x4 and bashed Joker across the head with it- and the Joker laughed. Batman extended his arm and brought the spurs of his gauntlets across Joker's throat- and still the Joker laughed. It was only as Batman tried to throw Joker off the roof that Joker actually started to fight back, with magic as well as horrible puns.

"Cool off Batman." a flash of green light and Batman staggered backwards, his face covered in a thick coating of ice. He whipped out a tool and broke the icy prison- gasping for air. Joker continued his assault alongside his puns. "Don't be blown away Batman!" A gust of wind picked Batman up and hurled him into the wreckage of the Batwing. Batman recovered and leaped at The Joker- intending to bear them both over the side of the building. But The Joker wasn't finished. "Stop." A flash of light and Batman ceased to move, he hung in the air, frozen in time- and the Joker laughed. He walked forward and pushed Batman towards the edge. "So long Batso- wait wait wait!" Joker hurriedly pulled a marker out of his pocket and drew a mustache on Batman's face. "There we go- bye bye!" Joker pushed Batman off the roof- and the Joker laughed.

Lucy impacted him just below the small of his back, putting all of her effort and strength into shoving Joker off the building. She succeeded too well, they both were carried over by her attack. Flailing through the air at the pavement far below. Lucy managed to hear Joker as she fell. "So long toots!" She looked to the side as Bahamut scooped Joker out of the air and soared away, leaving only his laughter behind- along with Lucy following Batman to his grave.


	8. Episode 8 Asterisk

_Episode 8 "Asterisk"_

_"If fate is a millstone, then we are the grist. There is nothing we can do." _\- Ichigo Kurosaki

**Lucy**

Lucy fell, the wind screaming past her ears as her life flashed before her eyes. With no keys, no magic of any kind, all she could do was wait for the inevitable end; she closed her eyes tight. _Please someone- anyone- help me! I have to save the Celestial Spirits!_ She lamented that the last thing would ever hear besides wind was the wretched laughter of The Joker.

* * *

**Joker**

Joker looked downwards, frowning; while Bahamut grabbing him had avoided a nasty fall- he had not been able to personally witness Batman's demise. _No kill like overkill I suppose._

"Bahamut- be a lad and fire some Flares down there would you?"

Bahamut responded with a roar and a flash of light as the attack sped downwards- then another, then another, then one more. Each blast sent vehicles flying through the air- the combined effect of all the explosions caused the nearby buildings to collapse. _If he lived through that, it'll take him a while to get out- time for me to go meet my new pal!_

Joker laughed as he commanded his pet to fly off, a shaft of light spearing down from the heavens in the distance.

* * *

**Lucy**

Lucy wasn't sure what had happened- she had been falling through the air before darkness obscured her vision. She felt herself floating in a sort of void- no light, no heat, no cold, no wet or dry- nothingness. _Am I dead?_ She felt a jolt jar her, knocking her sideways into more empty space, followed by another, and then two more. The jolts were more startling than harmful, there was no force to them- it was more as if something were moving with her inside of it. Suddenly a hole of light appeared in the distance and Lucy felt herself being drawn towards it- she shielded her eyes from it as she emerged and crashed into something.

"Haaaaaaaaai!" Lucy blinked, unable to comprehend what was standing before her.

A pink creature with little red shoes was facing her- it was about half her height and quite round, only having stubby arms and no noticeable elbows or knees on it. Lucy looked around, trying to get a handle on her surroundings.

The pink thing stood in the middle of a vast crater, with blue flames still crawling over it. The crater was strew with wreckage and building parts- it looked like nearly a city block had been destroyed. _Joker! I'll get him!_ Lucy clenched her fists before remembering where she was and who she was with. Suddenly a shiver wracked her, causing her to wrap her arms around herself in an attempt to stay warm, sustained time in the rain had drenched her to the bone.

The creature walked up to her and repeated itself, "Hai!" It opened its mouth and pulled out an umbrella, presenting it to Lucy.

"Oh!" Lucy gasped in surprise, tentatively reaching out for it. She expected it to be disgusting but it was, in fact, a perfectly dry umbrella. She opened it and held it over her head, still shivering but at least no longer getting wet. She knelt down to see the creature more directly, reaching out with a hand to touch it. Its skin was warm, and soft- almost like a sponge. Lucy suddenly hugged the creature tightly.

"Thank you!" She was aware the creature was bulging outwards around her arms almost like a balloon. "Thank you for saving me!" The thing spoke no words but made noises that Lucy interpreted as 'happy sounds'. She let it go and it stood still, looking at her. Lucy glanced around quickly for any danger or signs of Batman. She turned to her new friend.

"Have you seen Batman?" it looked blankly back at her, adopting a confused expression- or as much of one as it could show. "Err, black clothing? Pointy hat?" Lucy held up her hands to the side of her head to indicate what she meant.

The creature coo'd happily and walked over to a chunk of statue that had to weigh several tons. Lucy noticed an edge of Batman's cloak emerging from underneath it. _Oh no..._

"Batman!" Lucy ran forwards and tried pushing the statue, it looked like the bottom, a large foot perhaps, off of Batman. It didn't budge. "Batman!" Lucy called again. _If only I had my keys..._

Lucy's jaw dropped to the ground as her pink blob of an ally walked up to the statue and casually tossed it out of the way with a flick of its stubby arm. The chunk sailed for over a hundred meters before crashing further down the road. Lucy wondered why nobody was coming outside- didn't they hear the noise? She walked forwards to the crater that the statue had covered, and there she saw the body of Batman.

He was dead, shards of bone were sticking out through his armor and one of his arms was missing- his mask had been half-burnt to the point where it only covered half of his face. Lucy kept watching, hoping to see his chest move or his fingers twitch. Nothing. Her grief seemed to reach the little pink thing, who began crying, tears rolling down its cheeks. Lucy herself wasn't able to cry, she was still trying to process what she could do. _A new world... without my keys... and the only person I've met who wanted to help me died... he lost so much and then he couldn't even protect me..._

And then the pink thing ate Batman. It was so sudden Lucy froze completely as it happened- one second Batman's body had been lying there, bloody and broken, and the next- it had been sucked into the mouth of the creature.

"EEEEEEEK!" Lucy screamed in fear, backing away from the monster that had just devoured Batman. her surprise was complete when it reached into its mouth and pulled out Batman's cowl- placing it on its head. It turned to look at her and Lucy noticed something off.

Before it had childlike eyes, filling with sparkles and innocence. Those eyes were gone now, and a scowl had replaced the smile it had been wearing. Lucy reached out and spoke, "Is that?"

"That's correct Lucy," the creature walked forward as a voice Lucy recognized came from it, "I'm Batman." Lucy took a few solid seconds to try and think around that curve-ball that fate had thrown her.

"...WHAAAAAAAT?!"

* * *

**Ryner Lute**

Ryner awoke from his nap to find a pair of katanas pointed at his chest. _Not even in the Top Ten Worst Naps._ He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and then yawned. After he was done, he took a good look at the four guys in front of him. They were all garbed in similar blue armor, with blue kimono's underneath them; Ryner didn't recognize them at all.

After a few moments of silence, in which Ryner decided to not speak a single word; one of them leaned out the tent and called out. "Lord Masamune- he woke up!" the four snapped to attention quickly as two more men walked into the tent. Ryner immediately felt his guard rise.

The first man to enter had a long brown coat and his eyes were on Ryner from the moment he entered the tent, Ryner could tell he was being evaluated behind that gaze; though whether he was found to be a threat or not was unknowable. Ryner's attention went fully to the second man, he could sense the power of him already. He kept no less than six swords on his belt, fanning outwards in sets of three. A helmet with a crescent on top was carried in one arm while the other was raised in welcome.

"Hey- bout time you woke up!" The blue man knelt down in front of Ryner, placing his helmet on the ground next to him. Ryner noticed the man was missing an eye as he locked gazes with him.

"The name's Date Masamune- leader of the Date Clan." Ryner remained stone-faced, he didn't know of any Date Clan- meaning he was not where he had been before he fell asleep- hardly unusual, but not something to simply accept as a good thing.

"Ryner Lute," he said with a short bow of the head, "umm, how did I get here?"

"You fell from the sky." _Oh, alright, that's a new one._ "My scouts found you and brought you to me, you wouldn't wake up so we placed you off to the side and made camp for the day. Even around here- people just appearing out of mid-air isn't normal." Date nodded towards the man in a coat, who remained standing, staring at Ryner still.

"Kojuro said he thinks you're some sort of scholar, but he has a bad feeling about you and he doesn't recognize your clothing at all. Are you a scholar?"

Ryner blinked, "Sounds close enough." He was in an army camp of some kind, mentioning he was a weapon of mass destruction from a foreign kindom might not be the best idea, and he had been a student for quite some time anyways.

Date grinned, "Ha, no doubt about it, you're a spy, but I can deal with that. Come with me." He stood and left the tent, the silent Kojuro following behind him. Ryner was tempted to go back to sleep, but maybe when he was outside he'd have a better clue where he was. After rising and ensuring he still had everything he had brought with him (not much) he exited the tent. The four guards followed him, chatting with one another about past battles they had been in. Ryner squinted in the light before his eyes adjusted. _Nope, no idea where I am at all._ He didn't see any distinctive landmarks to identify where he was- maybe he'd have better luck with the stars later. He followed Masamune through the camp, everywhere around him soldiers were going about their work; preparing food, maintaining armor and weapons, or training against one another. Ryner had seen more than enough war camps in his life to recognize one by sound alone- let alone sight.

Masamune and Kojuro turned from the main path and headed towards a tent somewhat isolated from the others; this one with a dozen guards surrounding it. _So they think I'm less of a threat than whatever is in there? I'd best keep that illusion up- if they learn about my real powers they're either going to try to either use me or kill me; although they definitely don't seem like a typical army._

Date gestured for Ryner to proceed him, "I need you to take a look at this and tell me what you know about it." Ryner approached slowly, noting that the guards were afraid and that this tent was larger than his had been. He cautiously opened the flap, peering inside. Two girls were in this tent, both asleep and lying on their sides. _Umm?_ One was garbed in blue clothing but had metal armor on as well; the other wore a red uniform of some kind- Ryner was not familiar with the designs of their clothing. Neither moved an inch as he stepped fully into the tent. He walked towards the one on the left, the armored one. As he knelt before her still body he noticed Masamune and Kojuro were watching him intently.

He poked her in the center of her forehead with a finger. "Oi, wake up, I need to talk to you." She didn't respond. Ryner turned to look over his shoulder, "I tried."

Kojuro spoke, "If you're not going to put any effort into it at least be honest, lying does you no credit."

Masamune kept his arms crossed, "They fell out of the sky the same as you; I decided to separate you all in case you were going to be a problem. All we want to know is why you all are in my camp. If you truly have nothing to do with us- you're free to go. And stop hiding your power from me, I'm not fooled." Ryner's poker face vanished for an instant, long enough for Masamune to laugh and Kojuro to crack a grin himself. "We can sense you have a hidden strength within you; that's why you had fewer guards. I knew if you really tried the only person who had a chance of stopping you is me."

Kojuro took up the conversation, "We're not unfamiliar with people who have no side in the battle to rule the land; if you want to leave you can. All we ask is you help us figure out these two, neither has moved since they showed up and unlike you- they don't breathe."

Ryner looked at the two incredulously, "You're seriously going to let me go?"

Masamune nodded, "I'm not sure where you're gonna go- but you can do as you please. You remind me of a certain free-spirited vegabond that likes to simply wander and nap. You even look a bit like Keiji."

Ryner wasn't fully convinced, which apparently Kojuro noticed.

"You have a lot of power in you, perhaps enough to unite the various clans yourself, but we can't force you to fight for us and if you don't wish to be against us- willfully inciting you would be a foolish action. I am no fool and neither is Lord Masamune."

Ryner nodded in response, "Thank you." He turned to the still girl before him and decided to use his Alpha Stigma and look at her. He closed and opened his eyes, seeing her in a new light and knowledge became clear to him through the magical power of his cursed eyes. He spoke the information aloud as he digested it.

"She's a kind of ghost; the core of her being is in her center- with the rest of the body being created by energy. She's solid like you or I," Ryner demonstrated this by poking her in the forehead again, "and she has organs too." He proceeded to poke her armor. "And her armor looks to be comprised of the same energy. It's all coming from that little core- but it looks like it might have been damaged on something; it's still, like it's frozen in time..." Ryner lowered his hand to his side. "The magic keeping her from moving will eventually wear off, it doesn't last forever. Should be a few hours and then she'll get up on her own."

Masamune unfolded his arms, "Thanks, we already know something about the other girl." Ryner turned to look at him, allowing his Alpha Stigma to fade for the moment. Masamune pulled the tent flap wider, as the light fell on the red-clothed girl- her skin began to smoke and one of her arms turned into a sort of shadow to lash out at the tent flap. Masamune stepped out of the way as the shadow tendril pushed the flap back into place; keeping the sun from touching her anymore. Ryner sighed.

"Oh yeah that one is easy, she's a vampire."

* * *

**Lucy**

Lucy was still stunned from Batman's announcement; if she hadn't fallen down from the shock of Batman being eaten she probably would've fainted when Batman started talking out of the pink thing.

"LUCY!" _Yipes!_ Batman was pulling her off the streets and into an alley. As they entered the darkness several vehicles started pulling up near the chunks of masonry; flashing lights illuminated the scene as Lucy heard orders being given in the distance. She turned to look down at the diminutive Batman; who spoke to her in an exasperated tone.

"Listen good Lucy- this is not a permanent thing. This... creature- Kirby is its name- swallowed me in order to give me a few more moments of life; he's not sure how long it will last. But there are things you need to know before I fully... die." Lucy could sense the pain it cost Batman to say that- to admit he was going to be lost forever and that it was only a matter of time. After that brief pause he powered onwards.

"I managed to get a hold of an inter-dimensional transmission shortly before your arrival- someone named, 'The Doctor' is headed this way. He's spearheading a group of heroes dedicated to fighting The Man in White. You need to meet up with him- he's the only one who can help you now."

"But..." Lucy held her hands out, "I don't have my keys; all I have is my whip- I can't fight people who use guns with the whip alone." Batman- Kirby- Batkirby- nodded in reply.

"I know, I planned for this," _What?! How?!_ "Well, not exactly this but-" Batkirby opened his mouth and brought out something Lucy had never seen before- an odd crystal. It was shaped like a cube- its color kept changing hues and it was just the right size to cradle with one arm. Most curiously, it had a "?" floating inside of it. Lucy took it in her hands, surprised by how light it was.

"This is something new that I obtained recently- I kept it in my belt. Apparently it stores a number of items inside of it that you can pull out as needed. I haven't finished investigating it and we don't have time to test it more than I have already- I just hope it proves useful to you."

"HEY!" Lucy jumped as several men stalked down the alley, each had a mask over his face and held a gun in their hands. "Little girl- don't you know there's a curfew out now?" Lucy took a step back as all three started walking towards her. "You see, Batman's gone- dead. We already took down that police station- this is our city now! And we say," the man in the lead smiled, revealing a golden tooth- and precious few real teeth beside it, "Little girls shouldn't be out in the dark alone."

"What makes you think she's alone?" Batman's voice echoed from the darkness- Lucy had lost track of him.

One of the men lost his nerve, "I recognize that voice- it's Batman! Joker lied!"

The leader of the men turned and spat in the direction of the other guy, "Grow a pair Jim- you saw the powers Joker was packing- you think even Batman could survive that?"

"No." A blur sped from the darkness so fast Lucy could barely follow it. One second there were three men in the alley, the next there were two. The boss turned around to look for the missing man.

"Horace?" As he was distracted the blur leaped forwards again, Lucy caught a glimpse of the pink Batkirby as he consumed the other man- leaving the boss all alone. Batman's voice began emerging from the darkness.

"All the times you've thought I was dead- when have they ever been right?"

The man spun around and around, beginning to show signs of panic as Batman's voice continued to taunt him.

"Turns out this time they're on the money though. I'm a dead man. Joker killed me good- but did you really think death would stop me?"

Lucy caught a glint in the man's eyes as he spun around with a purpose now- a barrage of bullets fired from his rifle as he spun in a circle- Lucy dropped to the ground as bullets whizzed past her head. She looked up in time to see Batkirby leap into the air and kick the man across the face- hurling him out of the alley and into the street. She noticed that one golden tooth bounce into a pile of garbage.

"Quickly Lucy, we need to be gone before someone else shows up- every action I take in this form brings me closer to... to death." Lucy stood and hugged him once more, a tear trickled down her face to land on the pink ball.

"Batman, I know words aren't truly worth the feelings behind them but- thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for everything." She released him and he dropped to the ground.

"It's my job Lucy, now come on; we have to go-"

"He's back in that alley! It's Bats! Kill him!" Batman and Lucy spun around as nearly a dozen men in various states of dress ran into the alley- each holding a firearm of some kind. Batman cursed under his breath.

"Damn, guess I didn't kick him hard enough- this new body is hard to get the hang of; it doesn't obey the laws of physics."

The henchman Batman had just punted out of the alley was being carried, his arms around the shoulders of two other guys. "No talking- shoot them dead!"

Lucy instinctively brought out the cube Batman had given her- infusing her magic energy into it the same as she would a Celestial Key- just as the men all opened fire on her. _Please work!_

Lucy felt a buffet of wind as the cube responded, three massive green shells emerged from it- whirling around Lucy quickly enough to stop all of the bullets; the shells were incredibly durable, deflecting bullets back at the shooters but taking no damage. Several men fell from being struck by their own bullets.

Lucy pointed at them, "That's right- get some!" to her surprise, one of the shells suddenly fired forwards; impacting off of multiple foes hard enough to knock them into the brick walls of the nearby building. Lucy quickly gestured forwards again, causing another shell to speed off; this one bouncing off nearly six henchmen before vanishing. The men hit dropped immediately, Lucy was fairly sure she heard bones snapping from the attack. A few more tried to shoot Lucy but her remaining shell hovered in front of her as a shield, she pointed at the man who had troubled her twice now. The man had just enough time to grow pale before the shell struck him squarely in the groin; carrying him back into the street again- along with the two men he was holding onto. The rest scattered; at least the ones that could still move.

"Impressive work." Batkirby stood behind her, on a dumpster so he was near her height. "The Nintencube should serve you well." Lucy gave him a puzzled glance.

"That's what I named it- perhaps it has another title but what we call it is irrelevant next to the function. Likewise your greatest enemy has no known name; that doesn't change what he _can_ do or what he_ will _do."

Lucy nodded in response, "Nintencube- are those shells gone forever?"

"No, I pulled golden coins out several times while testing it- it may well be unlimited but it'd be best not to chance it." Batkirby hopped down and grabbed one of the henchmen, searching his pockets until he found a piece of paper.

"This will help, Joker knows where he's going to appear- you need to get there and take out the enemies before The Doctor walks into an ambush."

Lucy took the offered map, "But I don't know this city- how will I ever get there in time? Especially if the city is full of those bad guys?"

Batkirby was silent, Lucy looked closer at him as he stood there. She watched as Batman's mask turned into light and slowly faded away. Lucy looked closely, "Batman?" she reached out just as Kirby's eyes opened. _He's gone..._ Lucy could see Kirby's eyes no longer held the calculation- the sternness of Batman within them. They had reverted to the child-like look they had before. Kirby looked at her and shed a single tear. Lucy picked up the map in her hands; trying to figure out where she needed to go. _I could find landmarks if we were higher. _Lucy looked around and noticed a fire escape on one of the buildings adjacent to the alley.

"Hey Kirby, we need to go up those okay?"

Kirby responded by smiling and closing his eyes, making noises that Lucy could find no discernible meaning in, but she took them as agreement. Lucy leaped into the air, grabbing onto the low-hanging ladder and pulling herself upwards onto the first level of the fire escape. Luckily, the Nintencube apparently condensed enough to fit into the pocket of her skirt and she could climb unhindered by it. She looked down to try and find Kirby but saw no sign of him.

"Kirby?" Lucy looked around before spotting him. Apparently he could suck in air to turn himself into a balloon- he was racing her towards the top by flapping his little arms! Lucy hurriedly started climbing the fire escape to keep up. _He seems almost like a child- I can't let him out of my sight!_ She reached the roof at roughly the same time Kirby did, letting out a gust of air as he landed. "You're pretty handy you know that?"

Kirby coo'd in response as Lucy took out the map and looked at it, trying to get bearings for where she was. _Luckily it stopped raining._ She noticed the part with the big X on it was next to a tall tower; she could see a tower vaguely resembling the one on the map several miles away. Lucy sighed, "It's so far away..."

"Yeah, how exactly are you going to get that far?"

"EEEEEEK!" Lucy screamed and nearly dropped the map before turning around. "Who's there?!"

A youth stood in front of her, he wore a simple black outfit and tabi like Lucy had seen Erza wear every now and then. He also had startling orange and spiky hair.

"How did I not notice you?!"

"I'm pretty quiet when I want to be, I wanted to see what was going on in this strange place- seems I found quite a brawl going on." _He must be from another world too!_

Lucy eagerly asked the new arrival, "So you're from a different place as well? I'm not from here either- Batman said people were falling between dimensions- you must've fallen through by accident- unless you were kidnapped like me?" Her excitement made her a bit more rapid-fire in her sentences. The thought of having another person alongside her was enticing indeed; especially when stranded in foreign worlds.

The youth frowned as he looked at her, "You got kidnapped by that thing?" He pointed at Kirby, who was happily hopping around on the roof. Lucy rapidly shook her head in denial.

"No no no, he's here to help me! Speaking of which- could you help me too?" Lucy looked up at the boy. He was perched atop an antenna with his feet casually standing on the thin point at the top. "Apparently there's this Doctor coming here and he's walking into a trap- I have to get there and stop the bad guys from catching him by surprise."

"How is that my problem?"

"Err..." _He doesn't seem interested- wait- I know!_ "Simple, if this Doctor can travel between dimensions- he might be the fastest way back to yours!" After a brief pause, the youth replied to Lucy.

"Fair enough, my name is Ichigo Kurosaki, what's yours?"

"Lucy Heartfillia." she gestured over towards her floating pink blob, "As I understand it- his name is Kirby."

"Right." Ichigo hopped downwards to land next to Lucy. "So you need to get to that tower over there?"

"Yeah, on the map it's marked with an X and 'Wayne's Tower. Must be an important person or something. But I need to get there fast and it's so far away- maybe we can find a car?"

"Nah, come here puffball." Lucy was confused as Ichigo walked over to Kirby and picked him up by grabbing the top of his head and lifting. Kirby happily made noise in the air as Ichigo tossed him to Lucy, who managed to catch him even surprised. Kirby was incredibly light- no wonder he could fly just by inhaling air!

"Do you have a way of getting us over there quickly?"

Ichigo grinned at her, "Sure, just hold on."

"What? AH!" Lucy yelped as Ichigo picker her up in his arms and bent his legs. _He's going to jump?!_

Ichigo and Lucy faded from sight, reappearing on another house in the distance, then another, then another further away. Lucy was bombarded by wind from the sheer speed of it. _This is what it feels like to be Natsu!_ In a matter of seconds they appeared on top of the building that had "Wayne Enterprises" written on the side.

"So Lucy, how do we know when this Doctor is going to show up?"

"Umm," Lucy pressed both of her index fingers together while sheepishly grinning, "I have no idea." She could see Ichigo's eye twitching as he digested this information. He sighed.

"Guess your plan is to just camp out here and wait for something to happen?" Kirby floated past his head, flapping and carefree.

"Sorry." Lucy apologized, she knew there wasn't anything else to be done- but she felt like someone should be sorry.

Ichigo leaned back against a wall, "Didn't you say there was supposed to be an ambush?"

Lucy covered her eyes as helicopters suddenly rose into the air around the top of the building. Most had been gratified in the colors of whatever gangs had commandeered them. Squinting through the glare Lucy quickly counted. _Eight? These thugs know how to fly helicopters?_

"Lock and load boys!" Lucy brought out the Nintencube and reached into it- using her magic to fuel the artifact to bring out- a banana?! Lucy's eyes grew huge as she glared at the yellow fruit. _WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH THIS?!_

"Don't worry." Lucy was moderately surprised by the calm in Ichigo's voice. He had not a single care on his face when Lucy glanced at him. "I've got these guys."

With a grin Ichigo leaped skywards, till he was level with the closest helicopter. Holding out his hand caused a sword to appear in it, Lucy gasped. _It's massive! Erza would be so jealous!_

Ichigo slashed forwards, not even touching the helicopter. Lucy was stunned. _Did- did he just __miss__?_

Then the helicopter exploded. Lucy could barely follow as Ichigo leaped around the roof, taking out helicopters with a single swing of his blade. Nothing could touch him, bullets were simply deflected and one of the helicopters tried to charge him and cut him only to be split cleanly down the middle. In a short time only one was left. Lucy could see the pilot glancing around and could hear him screaming- apparently he had been the one who shouted earlier.

"Where is he? WHERE IS HE?"

Ichigo appeared on top of the helicopter and sliced the blades apart in an instant.

"Right here." He hopped off the helicopter onto the roof as it plummeted to the streets below. Lucy could hear the man screaming the entire way down.

"Some ambush- don't they have anything better than that?"

"Don't say that!" Lucy yelled at Ichigo, "That's bad luck!"

An unknown voice came from behind the two of them, "Very horrible luck indeed." Ichigo and Lucy both spun around to see an old man with white hair splitting off around either side of his head walk out of the shadows. He held Kirby in one hand, the little guy was sleeping away. The man spoke again as he continued walking forwards, he wore a black kimono with matching pants and had no shoes. "Who are you fools?" Ichigo and Lucy both tensed, they could instinctively feel this was an enemy more dangerous than the helicopters. Lucy spoke first, hoping to keep the man's attention on her.

"I'm Lucy, this is Ichigo, would you please return Kirby to us?"

The man laughed and hefted Kirby high over his head, Kirby remained happily asleep. _How can he be asleep at a time like this?!_

"Catch!" Lucy was hurled backwards as Kirby impacted her in the stomach, crashing into a brick wall. Kirby yawned and sprang upright looking around as Lucy climbed to her feet and holding her back in pain. _Oww... that hurts really bad._

Ichigo stood between her and the man, who was still talking rather loudly.

"I am Heihachi Mishima- and I will kill you all!"

Ichigo suddenly vanished from Lucy's vision to appear behind the man, blade drawn and tapping him on the shoulder.

"Hmm?" Heihachi turned around as Ichigo struck him across the forehead with an open palm, hurling him backwards across the roof. Lucy watched in surprise as Heihachi stood back up after the hit. _I don't know how these things still manage to surprise me._

"Is that the best a weakling like you can do?"

"It's called a warning," Ichigo replied in a dry tone, "if you'd like, next time I'll just cut you down. You're no threat to me old man."

Heihachi paused and placed a hand under is chin in contemplation.

"Perhaps there is truth in what you say. A bit of advice then!" Heihachi stood tall and pointed at them. "Best find some friends, the battle lines are being drawn and your side is already destined to lose, might as well have some company before the end!"

A beam of white light suddenly struck from the sky, forcing Lucy and Ichigo to shield their eyes from the intense flare. Lucy's ears hurt as a loud shriek reached her ears. When the light faded, Heihachi had vanished.

"Well what was the point of that?!" Lucy shouted in annoyance.


	9. Episode 9 As the World Falls Down

_Episode 9 "As the World Falls Down"_

_"How you turn my world, you precious thing. " _\- Jareth, the Goblin King

**John 117**

Master Chief checked his weapons as the rythimic wheezing of the TARDIS indicated they were still in inter-dimensional travel. The Doctor said they were behind the enemy this time- meaning they could be headed into a trap. John was fine with that and apparently quite a few of the others were as well.

"Plan of attack? I have a plan- attack!" Tony was still upset about his tower and his world, which was perfectly understandable to John. The Doctor however would not be detered. John continued his weapon-check as he watched the conversation unfold across the central hub of the TARDIS. The Doctor was tinkering with the center console while Tony stood behind him without his armor, hands placed belligerently on his hips.

"Tony, in every sense of the word, we literally _can't_ go back to your world." The Doctor continued manipulating the controls. "Remember the Logic Barrier? We simply can't get through it right now- all we can do is run around trying to reduce collateral damage and recruiting people to help- maybe one of them will be able to pierce it."

Tony walked back and forth, "That's my world out there! My people! My friends! How do you expect me to just leave them alone like that?!"

John finished inspecting his rifle and stood upright, walking forwards to clap Tony on the shoulder to get his attention, without his armor on Tony was nearly a foot shorter than Chief himself was.

"Listen Tony, we all have worlds out there, we all have people we want to protect- but we're out of our element here. The Doctor is on as our advisor- what good is that if we don't heed his advice?"

Tony shook John's hand off his shoulder. "I know that it's just... it's hard to know I can help them- but I can't..." Tony sighed. "I liked it better when the only world I had to worry about was my own."

The Doctor pulled a lever out so he could lean on it and stare right at Tony. "Listen Tony, I know it's not easy- nobody ever said it would be- but it's what must be done. Speaking of which," The Doctor slammed the lever upwards, causing the TARDIS to lurch slightly, "We'll be there soon and _you're_ not in your armor. If you want to sit this one out fine, but if not- time to be Iron Man."

Tony nodded and quickly walked out of the central hub of the TARDIS. John took a moment to speak with The Doctor, alone. "Doctor- everyone is hoping for a fight- they're warriors across space and time and they want to feel like they're accomplishing something. Will we be able to strike a decisive blow against the enemy once we reach our destination?"

The Doctor turned to look John in the eyes, which required him to crane his head back a bit but he managed to pull it off. "That's up to you Chief, but I promise you this," the TARDIS lurched again as the wheezing intensified, "you'll get your chance."

* * *

**Tony**

Tony exited the central hub and continued walking towards his quarters, eager to be in his armor and vent his frustration on something. His anger didn't stop him from marveling at the TARDIS, even after weeks of life inside of it. The Doctor had been more than accommodating for his new guests, giving each their own room and even creating a hanger for Samus and Sora to store their ships in, as well as Cloud's motorcycle. Tony had been overjoyed when he discovered he could recreate his armor station in his room- while he could live in his armor for a long time without leaving it- it got a little nasty after a while. It seemed almost like the TARDIS itself knew exactly what each of them required- or very close anyways. Tony had heard that Misaka had been reduced to tears when given a complete copy of her old room, complete with her roommate's empty bed. Luckily Sora had been nearby at the time. Tony gave Sora poor marks for thinking on his head, but there was no denying the kid was good at cheering others up, just being around him was sort of a positive charge.

Tony emerged from a hallway out onto a second floor balcony overlooking what the team had taken to calling, "The Rec Room." The Doctor said it had formerly been a croquet court before he redesigned it and Tony believed him- how could he not? He'd seen the pool and the library already. Stark itched to try and borrow, or at least study, the tech; but The Doctor was very sensitive about people playing with the TARDIS. _Maybe when it's over, if there's anything left..._

Tony took a moment to lean against the railing and look at his various allies spread throughout the room, all waiting for The Doctor to call them to the hub for action. The Rec Room itself was quite large, the walkway Tony was on went around the entire room and led to the various bedrooms everyone was living in like the spokes of a wheel. Tony estimated you could fit 30 people in there and not feel incredibly cramped. As it was now everyone was sort of collected towards the end he was standing over; the rest of the room was dark and empty.

Dante was asleep on a couch with a magazine over his face. Tony wasn't really surprised, he'd taken a hell of a beating the last time- watching his skull actually repair the dents Mundus had placed in it was more than a little unnerving, even by Tony's standards. The fact that he was still alive spoke volumes about the Devil Hunter's vitality. Sora and Misaka were at a table eating some pale blue ice cream and watching Cloud and Samus play pool. Samus had not yet restored her armor, which left her only in his skintight blue suit that left little to the imagination, and Tony was very imaginative. _Ah ah ah- remember Pepper! _Cloud sunk a shot into the corner pocket before looking up at Tony, drawing the attention of the others as well. Tony gave a small wave.

"The Doctor says we're almost there, I'm heading off to suit up- best get yourselves ready." After hearing the various acknowledgments, Tony resumed his journey to his room. His last glimpse of the others was Misaka walking towards the sleeping Dante with a spark in her fingers and an evil grin on her face, Sora behind her and egging her on. A few seconds later Tony heard Dante's yell and smiled. _Maybe we're not so hopeless after all._

* * *

**Misaka**

Misaka was nervous. She'd been in her share of fights before- (How could she not have been? She was the Ace of Academy City!) but this sort of large-scale battle was going to be something relatively new to her. Even as she watched, Samus conjured up her armor- becoming surrounded in a bright glow before it flashed into existence around her; turning her from a human lady into a tower of metal and power. Misaka took a step closer, looking over the female bounty hunter. She still held the stick from the ice-cream Sora had given her and she twirled it in her hand as she carefully checked out every inch for flaws or problems. _It's got scars and some cuts from fighting, but it looks fine._

"I don't see anything wrong with it- what's the issue?"

With a sudden flash the armor vanished, leaving Samus in her blue undersuit again. The woman looked tired, but not defeated.

"Apparently it will take some more time for me to finish my armor repairs. No matter." Samus flipped an errant strand of hair out of her eyes. "I'm capable like this as well."

"Really?" Misaka was puzzled, "I thought you needed your suit like Stark does?"

Samus smiled before leaping twenty feet straight up onto a rafter, balancing there with one hand while the other began twirling the ice-cream stick Misaka had formerly been holding.

"I do need my suit, I feel like half a person." Samus flipped back down, landing easily. "But I don't need it like he needs his."

"Hey- I resent that!" Tony walked into the room, fully armored except for his face. "I'm more than just a guy in a suit. I'm a genius, boxer, terrific singer, incredibly wealthy- and just generally good looking."

"I see humility is not listed among those virtues." Samus replied with a grin. Misaka was meanwhile trying her best not to laugh. _Even in his suit Stark is shorter than her!_

"I find that humility is often misleading and thus dishonest. I'm also honest, did I say that one already?"

"RIGHTO!" The Doctor walked into the room, waving about his little screwdriver while he spoke. "You all ready for your big battle?" The rest of the party followed him in, everyone gathering around the center console of the TARDIS. The Doctor stuck the screwdriver into the console and the room grew dark. Misaka crossed her arms, far from impressed.

And then they were in a warzone. Misaka panicked and nearly let fly a lightning bolt before she heard The Doctor talking. "This is only a hologram! Do NOT blow up my TARDIS!"

It was chaos, police were beset on all sides by masked people with guns. The officers were being shot down, pulled from their cruisers and beat with bats, fire and destruction were rampant in the hologram. Even as Misaka watched a building fell, shattering into pieces as explosives went off in it. _It's just like Academy City- what the hell is wrong with those people?!_ The Doctor let it sink in for a moment before speaking slowly and clearly. "This world is lost."

Everyone shouted at once- each trying to make their voice heard loudest. The Doctor patiently waited for it all to die down before speaking again. "But we are still going there- yes."

"Why?" Misaka had been silent until now, but she voiced her question softly, sure that nobody woud hear her. Unfortunately, complete silence fell as she said it- even the hologram stopped. Looking around at all of the adults she gulped but repeated herself louder. "Why? If that world is lost then why are we going? We could be hurt- even killed. Why go if there's no point?"

The Doctor clapped his hands, grinning from ear to ear, "I'm glad you asked! I'll tell you what we're going for- even for a doomed world like this one." The Doctor's voice dropped as the hologram resumed playing. Suddenly, through a gout of smoke and fire, three people appeared and the hologram stopped again and focused on them. A girl in a pale shirt with a blue skirt, cradling a shining gem of some kind. A boy in black robes with bright orange hair and a large sword. And a pink ball of... something was floating over their shoulders. The three of them were standing on an empty rooftop that overlooked the destruction.

"Who are they?" Master Chief asked The Doctor, "Are we just headed there to recruit more allies?"

"Well- no. Not exactly. Yes. Kind of." The Doctor raised a finger and walked over to the girl. "She was deliberately sought out by the head honcho himself. Misaka," The Doctor turned to her, "you told me what Vader said- you were a test run- a demonstration." Misaka clenched her hands together at that. The Doctor made a face, "Sorry- sore topic I know. BUT- _she_ was what he really wanted." The Doctor looked back to the girl. "And I need to know _why_. That little toy only works when we're actually in the boundaries of the universe the object is in- so once we get there-" The Doctor spun and pointed at Master Chief, "HE is going to make you a plan!" He straightened his bow-tie and grinned, "I love having someone else make the plans- you get tired of it after a few centuries. So Chief, what's your plan?"

The Spartan paused for a moment, thinking, before striding forwards and pointing at the three people. "You can find them? Exactly?"

"Yes yes, as soon as we land I'll have an estimate within a few blocks- after that it's up to you lot."

Chief stepped up next to The Doctor and looked over everyone. "We'll be dividing up into teams. Our goal is to find those three and return them to the TARDIS and our safe custody. The teams are as follows: Cloud, Sora, Misaka." _What? I'm on a team with those two?_ Misaka found her breath catching for some reason as Sora grinned at her from across the room. "I want you to head north, stick to the alleys and rooftops- don't fight if you can help it. The enemy numbers are unknown and they could have any manner of weapons and powers unfamiliar to us. Tony-" Stark stepped forwards with a 'bring it' gesture. "You're going in the sky. I want a a bird's eye view of everything happening and I want to know the TARDIS is safe." Stark looked slightly miffed but nodded in his acceptance. "Dante, Samus, and myself will comprise the other group heading south."

The TARDIS shuddered and The Doctor pulled out the little device that showed him information. "Right, the girl's name is Lucy, the boy is Ichigo, and the little pink thing is called Kirby. I'll call out more as I figure it out- right now you need to get moving."

Misaka steeled herself as Stark went out the door first, immediately jetting off into the sky. She could already hear the sounds of battle before the doors closed. The other team was next, they all took a moment to brace themselves and then sprinted out the door at terrific speed. Misaka saw them leaping over rooftops before the doors swung closed again.

"Er..." Misaka figured she had to ask sooner or later. Cloud and Sora both turned to look at her. "I can't jump between buildings like that..."

"No worries!" Sora happily told her. _Is he ever not happy?_ "We were gonna try and take it slow anyways."

Cloud broke in, "The Chief said he wanted us doing a circuit around the TARDIS to check the nearby areas while they try to cover more ground. If The Doctor locates those three we're looking for and the other team is further away- we can branch off and get them while they head back."

"Oh, okay then." Misaka took a moment to breath. "You two are too calm about this."

Sora grinned and placed his hands behind his head, "I do this all the time- I once had to fight a thousand Heartless by myself- it wasn't that hard."

Misaka looked at Cloud, her face still as stone, "He's nuts."

Cloud just shrugged, "Anything yet, Doctor?"

The Doctor was running around his controls, flipping switches and smacking a tv screen that followed him around. "Not much yet, no idea where they are- too much chaos in the timestream and not nearly enough order in spacetime to find them. But let's see," The Doctor pulled out his nexus and looked at it. "Lucy uses magic, Ichigo apparently deals in ghosts and souls, and the pink ball..." The Doctor frowned and looked closer at the device, "Eats things?"

* * *

**Tony**

Flying alongside the tallest rooftops, Tony could get a good look at this new city- it was bad. _I think I'd actually prefer alien invasions to this...chaos and in-fighting._ As far as he was aware- everyone was fighting everyone- and the city was losing. An errant helicopter flew towards Tony, a giant skull painted along the sides. Without so much as a warning it opened fire, spraying bullets at Tony. He immediately dropped to avoid the attack and returned fire with a repulsor blast; a single shot tore apart the bottom of the machine and it plummeted back to the war many stories below.

Tony keyed up the TARDIS on his helmet's comm system. "How am I supposed to find anyone in this?! What isn't exploding or on fire is covered by smoke and blood!"

The Doctor responded promptly. "Why do you think everyone else is on the ground looking for them? I doubt they're in the sky! Just keep an eye out for anything strange." Unnoticed by Tony, an owl flew past, silently watching him before flying away. "Listen Tony, be prepared for anything. With dimensions and realities warping together literally anything could show up right now- OH!"

Tony started at the sudden exclamation, "What is it?!"

"I found them! They're about 3 blocks west of the TARDIS!"

Tony thought about the map of the city they had all recently studied, "That's in Cloud's area- I'll get onto contacting Chief and his group to head back." Another helicopter was heading his way. "Hold up, more locals are incoming and they don't like me."

* * *

**Master Chief**

John fired off a quick burst from his rifle before ducking back into cover, his target falling off the truck in a spurt of blood. Across the road he could see Dante casually walking forwards and firing his pistols at the enemy- ignoring the incoming bullets and simply daring them to expose themselves to try and hurt him so he could shoot them., which they did, in droves. As he switched out the rifle for his own pistol he could see Samus further down the road. Many of the thugs had noticed the woman in the skintight outfit and had thought her an easy mark- the pile of groaning and weeping bodies around her showed how foolish of an idea that had been. Samus was as strong as a Spartan even without her suit- with it John was certain she was stronger than he was.

As he stood and quickly pulled the trigger six times to take down six different men his helmet began to transmit something from Tony. "Chief- are you doing okay?"

"About as well as expected." Spotting a soldier hiding on the 2nd floor of a nearby building, John took a few steps and jumped straight up to the man and punched him across the face- shattering his jaw and preventing him from firing his weapon. "Have you located the three we're here for?" _A RPG launcher?_ John picked the weapon up and looked out the broken window as a truck with a large gun strapped to the back of it roared down the road. John took careful aim and fired, the payload impacting the front of the vehicle squarely.

"Yeah- Cloud and his group are heading towards that way. You all need to get back right now." _Well, at least they're close to the TARDIS._ "I'm moving to rendezvous with them- can you guys get back safely?"

John turned to look in the direction of the TARDIS, and the dozens of thugs that were swarming from that direction. "It'll take some time, there's a lot of stuff to shoot through, our ETA is 20 minutes." Even as he spoke a shudder rippled through the street and a nearby building fell across the road- impeding the way back. "Change that to 30 minutes."

"Alright, see you in-" static cut across the transmission.

"Tony? Tony? Ironman?!" Chief suddenly had a bad feeling about his comrades. The feeling intensified when he saw a large shape loom through the smoke and then start expelling Elites and Brutes onto the street. _The Covenant are here!_ "Dante, Samus, new hostiles- form up on me!" Samus immediately rushed over, drawing a pistol and taking cover, Dante by contrast decided he was going to ignore the Chief's order and charge the Elites like he had the thugs. _That's a mistake._ And it was- Dante had shrugged off bullets with no issue- but the first blast of plasma that hit him melted half his arm- causing him to stagger backwards, screaming, as the Brutes charged him. Chief fired two shots at the first Brute, each striking it in the skull. The Brute fell, causing a brief lull in the attack. But then the rest of the enemies realized who they were facing and they responded with the expected fury.

"KILL THE DEMON!" His plan paid off as the entire Covenant force immediately abandoned Dante to charge the Spartan. _Looks like they still recognize me._

* * *

**Misaka**

Misaka held onto the cell phone as Cloud led the way, carefully checking around each corner before urging everyone forwards quickly. _Guess he was a soldier after all._ He certainly moved with a purpose- never emerging from cover until he was sure it was safe. He had warned both Sora and Misaka beforehand that he was not interested in fighting- their goal was Lucy, Ichigo, and Kirby- and that was all he was going to worry about.

Sora and Misaka kept close behind him, each constantly looking over their shoulders for pursuit. Thus far they had remained undetected by any enemies- and Misaka was fine with it staying that way. The three ran across the street and entered the building The Doctor had detected the others at. It was a wreck, like most of the city; it had been a store at some point perhaps- now it was only empty shelves and shattered glass. Misaka peered around but couldn't see their targets.

"This is the building right?" Misaka spoke through the phone quietly, not wanting to raise her voice.

"I'm telling you, they're in there, just be sure not to get in a fight with them; we're here to help."

"Well we sure don't see them." Misaka responded, looking around the store while Sora and Cloud did the same. "There's nothing in here but-" A soft clattering reached her ears, like a crystal bouncing off a hard surface. "hang on a second." Misaka turned and looked around for the noise before noticing a small glass ball rolling towards her. She thought she saw motes of light inside as reached towards it, "What are you?"

"Misaka?! Don't touch things if you don't know what they are!" Too late, even as she grasped the orb Misaka felt the world lurch and fell headlong into oblivion.

* * *

**Lucy**

"What is this place?" Lucy asked Ichigo in a curious voice. They had been running along the rooftops before a glass ball had bounced up to them- even as they had glanced in it they found themselves in a new world. They were trapped in a weird room, stairs went off in every conceivable direction, even in ways that gravity wouldn't allow them to walk.

"Beats me." Ichigo didn't sound extremely concerned. He walked over to the edge of the stairway they were on and looked down. "I don't see a door or anything down there. Let me check higher." Before Lucy could stop him he jumped out into the open center area to try and get to a higher place.

"GRAAAH!" Before Lucy's eyes his body twisted and contorted before being thrown back onto the stairway. He didn't get up quickly, instead he just lay still and panted for breath. "Okay, that hurt."

"Are you okay?" Lucy was slightly worried, Ichigo was far too headstrong and she didn't want to lose another ally. "What happened?"

"Felt like gravity tried pulling me in every direction at once." Ichigo gingerly sat up. "I'm not hurt that bad, but I think we need to use the stairs instead- unless you want me to just cut through?"

Lucy shook her head back and forth rapidly, "No no no no! It's okay, we can find our way out without destroying the place!" she calmed her voice. "Wherever we are, there's no evil men hunting us at the moment. We can take a break and hopefully wait for that Doctor."

"Heh, some ambush- we went through all that trouble and nobody showed up. You sure Batman wasn't wrong?"

"No." Lucy believed with all of her heart Batman had not lied to her. "He'll be here, eventually. We just have to wait for him."

"Heeeeeeeey!" a new voice entered the chamber. Lucy and Ichigo looked around and noticed a young boy in dark clothing standing across the impassable chasm of the room. The boy had spiky brown hair, behind him stood a man also with dark clothing - although his spiky hair was blonde- he also had a rather large sword strapped to his back. A girl in a school uniform was behind them.

Lucy looked at Ichigo. "Friends of yours?"

Ichigo shrugged, "I don't know them." before standing and raising his voice in reply. "Were you sent by a Doctor of some kind?"

The boy across the way answered, "Yeah- we're here to rescue you!"

The room shook and another voice echoed through the entire room. "Oh you will? I'm afraid I can't allow that from you precious things."

Dozens of glass orbs began bouncing down from the ceiling. Even as Lucy watched some turned into monsters- most were just shadows with yellow eyes- but some had more substance- like armor and whiplike ears. She was not afraid, she held out the Nintencube and channeled her magic into it, reaching inside to pull out- a lightning bolt? Lucy quickly crushed it in her hand and was not disappointed as lightning arced between all of the shadows- destroying them all. Out of the corner of her eye she could see her new allies slicing the shadows apart easily, and even caught a glimpse of lightning from the girl they had with them. She shouted defiantly at the unknown voice.

"Piece of cake- what else you got?!"

"Why don't we raise the stakes then?" The voice echoed out again. Another glass ball fell straight past her to the bottom of the room. It seemed like it took an eternity to fall as everyone present craned their necks to see where it landed. Finally, the sound of the orb smashing reached them- and up came a monster. It was a great beast covered in flames and shadow- but despite the fire the room itself felt darker and more cramped. A great sword of fire appeared in its hand and it lashed out at Lucy and Ichigo. Ichigo jumped up and blocked the weapon, slicing it cleanly in half. Before their eyes it simply reformed and struck again- Ichigo blocking it once more with the same result. The monster roared and brought its other hand out to smash the stairway out from under Lucy and Ichigo. Lucy managed to jump off of several falling blocks, landing safely- though shaken. Ichigo landed next to her and shook his head from side to side as Kirby floated downwards after them.

"Whatever magic the room had with gravity is gone, but I feel weak- it took a lot out of me. Something's interfering with my spiritual energy..." **BOOM. **The room shuddered from the force of whatever had just happened.

The three looked upwards to see a fantastic sight. The new arrivals were fighting the demon of fire and shadow- but they weren't winning.

* * *

**Misaka**

_It just doesn't die!_ Misaka furiously launched another railgun at the monster- it struck it dead-on in the chest and hurled it back- crashing into a wall and destroying a large stairway before the creature surged forwards to come at them again. Lifting a large sword of flame it struck at Misaka, but was blocked by Sora; the impact causing cracks to appear in the stone. Sora had taken several attacks already, the stairway shaking with every blow. The heat was terrifying, whatever it was was heating up the air so much that breathing was starting to become difficult. Sora strained and hurled the sword back before pointing his keyblade forwards. A beam of ice fired forwards and struck the demon only for the ice to burn away before it did anything.

Sora was panting from the effort, "Whatever it is- my magic isn't strong enough to do anything to it!" Even as he spoke a dark shadow fell onto the flaming menace- Cloud drove his sword deep into the skull of their opponent- the blade penetrating until not much but the hilt remained visible. With a flash of fire, an explosion knocked Cloud backwards to another wall, his sword still remaining in the monster's head. It turned to face him, drawing back the flaming sword for a mighty strike. There was nowhere Cloud could run or jump to and he had no weapon to defend himself; even at this distance Misaka could see that attack had left him badly burned on the arms and face.

"Cloud!" Misaka screamed in helpless fury, her lightning had not bothered the monster and she couldn't use her railgun for fear of knocking it into Cloud. Cloud stood still, holding onto his burned arm and facing his adversary even as it prepared to slay him. And then Sora surprised Maka- he threw the keyblade to Cloud. Time seemed to slow as the keyblade raced the monster, reaching Cloud with barely a second to spare as he caught it and blocked the collosal blow sent his way. He strained and then hurled the beast back before leaping at it, keyblade still in hand. Cloud suddenly seemed to be everywhere at once- leaping off an arm to slice at the thing's face and descending towards the knee to hack at its stomach before falling back to jump off of a wall to slice at it again. He was like a malevolent bladed hackey sack that refused to stay down of its own will.

Sora jumped for the back of the demon, racing along one of its wings and hopping onto its skull to reach Cloud's Fusion Blade. With a mighty pull Sora managed to draw the weapon and gave a terrific cut to the top of its head, but their foe set off another wave of fire, burning Sora and knocking him off. He started to fall past Misaka before she reached out with her power and _pulled_. Cloud's sword was so heavy, but Misaka would not be denied, she continued to build up her energy until her magnetism pulled the weapon- and the attached Sora- all the way back to her.

"My turn to save you." she panted in Sora's direction.

"Thanks." Sora looked winded as well, he started to turn around, "I wonder how Cloud's do-" WHAM.

Cloud's body was hurled into the wall behind them, impacting into the stone and leaving cracks spreading in all directions. Cloud collapsed to the floor as Sora ran up to him. A glow of healing green light later and they looked better, though still weary; Cloud in particular still had burns covering his arms. Misaka turned and fired another railgun at the incoming enemy, hurling it into opposite wall even as it roared in defiance.

Sora groaned as it got back up. "Nothing we do is keeping it down."

"Yeah, you're having some issues." Misaka jumped as she realized the people they had been sent to save had found their way up to their level. Ichigo was leaning on Lucy's shoulder and that pink ball was hovering in the air, flapping its arms to stay afloat. The girl was panting from the exertion.

"Sorry if you're in all of this trouble for us- we tried to stay on that roof but enemies just kept showing up!" Suddenly the stairway they stood on shattered in half and Misaka found herself falling alone towards the creature's face. She channeled her power into a lightning bolt and blasted it point-blank. While the creature didn't appear incredibly phased, the blast did manage to throw Misaka onto a lower stairwell. The monster dropped down to her level, bringing out it's flaming weapon again. She walked forward to face the demon of fire and shadow directly even as it roared in her face and began to swing the massive blade at her. Misaka gathered all of the iron in the air and hurled it into the monster as a large spear, pinning it to the far wall. Misaka went all-out, throwing all of the electricity she could at it. _It's still coming back!_ True enough, whatever the demon was, it collected its fire and shadow and lurched at her again. Misaka was reminded of her duel with Vader as the heat began really telling on her and robbing her of breath- _No! I'm not alone this time!_

"I'll show you this then!" Misaka took a deep breath before calling out, "SORA!"

As expected, Sora was by her side immediately, bringing up a barrier to stop the mighty blow that came at them. The shield cracked even as the shards of light it fired in return pierced the enemy, it wouldn't hold up to another hit- but it wouldn't have to. "I can use **all **metal, not just coins." Sora responded without words, passing her his keyblade quickly with a small toss so it lined up with her hands perfectly.

"This is my full strength!" Misaka screamed as she channeled her electricity and fired it forth as an empowered railgun- with the keyblade at the front. The blast tore through the center of the monster and straight into its heart, hurling it backwards. Misaka felt a sense of vertigo as she found herself in the store again, now with a rather large hole blown through the far wall and several buildings beyond it. Misaka slumped to her knees as she noticed everyone was also present as well. Off in the distance she could see a white owl flying away. Sora was in front of her, grinning that stupid grin again.

"Good job Misaka!"

Misaka smiled back before sighing due to fatigue. _If this gets harder, we're in trouble._


End file.
